An Epic Adventure
by Mrs.InsaneOne
Summary: Betrayed by those he considered family, Harry is ripped from his life and the world he grew up in alongside two others only to end up in a world filled with fantastical creatures with magic-like abilities. Pairings: HP/DO & DD/LL. Features Redeemed!Dudley, Seer!Luna, Non-Angsting!Harry
1. Prologue: Betrayal

**Summary:** _Betrayed by those he considered family, Harry is ripped from his life and the world he grew up in alongside two others only to end up in a world filled with fantastical creatures with magic-like abilities. Pairings: HP/DO &amp; DD/LL. Features Redeemed!Dudley, Seer!Luna, Non-Angsting!Harry_

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, author created vocabulary, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. _

_Original prompt:_

_The first idea is that Harry goes thru the veil after the war after learning that he has  
been manipulated and betrayed by people he has considered close friends and family.  
He takes the Deathly Hallows with him and they merge together into a ghost type  
Pokémon after he ends up in Pallet Town and de-aged to his ten year old self. _

_The changes I made to the original prompt after my muse took the idea and ran with it were roughly:_

_1) I'd actually prefer not to send him alone for once but it won't be one of the usual  
suspects. Possible companions were originally going to be Luna &amp; Dudley. And each of  
them will have to pay a price to pass safely through the Veil of Death._

_2) I'd just need some other powerful magical object that could transform into another  
Pokémon for his companion (or companions if I send more than one). Though, if there  
are three of them sent through, I could instead have each Hallow turn into a ghost or  
psychic Pokémon so they each get a companion and prevent the usual trappings of an  
immortal or godlike MoD!Harry._

_3) Harry will retain his parseltongue ability but will morph into a PokéTongue ability and  
when he speaks to Pokémon, people will hear him speaking PokéTongue _

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

**An Epic Adventure  
**Prologue: Betrayal

_October 31, 2000  
Department of Mysteries, Ministry of Magic  
London, England_

Bloodshot emerald eyes glared through broken lenses as Harry James Potter was dragged towards the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries by a pair of red headed wizards. Harry would have been cussing and cursing up a storm if not for the fact that he'd been gagged shortly after he'd been captured earlier that morning. He was unceremoniously dropped directly beside the Veil just a few minutes later and Harry twisted sideways in an attempt to knock Ronald Weasley (one of his former friends) through the stone arch but failed when George Weasley pulled Ron away from the Veil at the last second.

Harry's heart near broke when his new position let him see the blindfolded form of Luna Lovegood being hauled through the room by Charlie Weasley next. The petit blonde looked fairly banged up from the vicious if short battle that had taken place when the Weasleys had stormed Grimmauld Place with a dozen aurors just after sunrise that morning. As soon as Luna was dumped beside Harry, he was given a view of a bloody and bruised Dudley Dursley being cruelly levitated upside-down by Percy Weasley. His still overweight and, oddly enough, reformed cousin was soon dropped beside Harry and Luna and Harry couldn't help but mentally wince when his head bounced off the stone floor once.

The final person in the procession was William 'Bill' Weasley transporting Neville Longbottom's dead body. Harry felt heartsick the moment his eyes fell on Neville's corpse. The valiant Gryffindor had been cut down by Molly Weasley during the earlier battle when he'd thrown himself in front of her Killing Curse in order to protect Luna. Harry had, in turn, killed Molly with a Blasting Curse to the chest to avenge the fallen Gryffindor. Kreacher had then killed Arthur Weasley when the man tried to kill Harry to avenge his wife before the crotchety elf was cut down by Bill.

"Hem, hem; by the decree of Minister Shacklebolt on this thirty-first day of October in the year two-thousand, the Dark Lord Potter and his accomplices are hereby sentenced to death via the Veil of Death for the crime of high treason against the Ministry of Magic," Delores Umbridge declared in her annoying girlish voice. "Furthermore, all monies, properties, and material wealth owned by the Dark Lord Potter and his accomplices shall be confiscated forthwith and distributed between the families of their victims and the Ministry of Magic."

Harry began laughing behind his gag the moment he heard Umbridge mention that the Ministry was confiscating his vast wealth; there was nothing left of the Potter or Black Fortunes. At least, not where they could touch it.

What the goblins hadn't taken as compensation back at the end of the war had been removed from Gringotts and hidden in his mokeskin pouch along with the Deathly Hallows. Harry wore the bag around his ankle where wizards would never look for it. His parents had sold all of the Potter property prior to their deaths (to fund the fight against Voldemort) and Sirius had done the same to the Black property during the course of Harry's fifth year. The only property that Harry had owned was Grimmauld Place and that had been burnt to the ground when Bill or Charlie had cast Fiendfyre towards the end of that morning's battle.

Furthermore, the Longbottom fortune had been drained to pay for Frank and Alice's long term care in St. Mungo's and their property sold off to pay for Neville's schooling. Luna hadn't owned any property and her father had the Lovegood fortune all tied up in the Quibbler and the Ministry couldn't confiscate that because of some archaic law that prevented the Ministry from silencing publishers by taking away their businesses (not that that law had stopped them from trying during Voldemort's second rise). They could arrest or even kill Xenophilius Lovegood but they couldn't touch the Quibbler or the Lovegood property (which housed the Quibbler's office).

"Send them through," Umbridge haughtily ordered over the sound of Harry's smothered laughter.

A dozen Banishing Charms hit the closely packed group in front of the Veil of Death and the four of them were shoved backwards into the smoke-like curtain that hung from the stone arch that formed the Veil of Death while their wands were thrown in after them (to destroy the evidence they would have provided). Harry continued laughing even as he felt the chill of death settle over his head when his body was lifted free from the floor and drawn into the Veil. Darkness engulfed Harry a heartbeat later and his laughter turned to sobs as reality came crashing down on him.

The Weasleys had betrayed him once again and his last true friends had suffered simply because they were his friends.

The saddest part was that he hadn't been the least bit surprised that the entire Weasley family had turned on him. They had not been pleased when he'd refused to loan them any money to rebuild the Burrow shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts ended. At the time, Harry had been having a hell of a time negotiating with the goblins who were more than a little upset with him over what had happened when he, Ron, and Hermione had gone to get Hufflepuff's Cup from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault.

He'd angered them (the Weasleys) further when he'd broken up with Ginny on October thirty-first of nineteen ninety-nine after he'd caught her cheating on him with a reporter from _Quidditch Quandaries_ (a monthly sports magazine from the publishers of _Which Broomstick_). Her excuse for having sex with the man? She wanted him to give her a good review in the next issue of _Quidditch Quandaries_ to boost her reputation. The Weasleys were of the mind that Harry should have looked the other way since Ginny was only trying to further her Quidditch career.

It wasn't long after he'd broken things off with the youngest Weasley that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had began spreading malicious rumors about Harry. They started by revealing that Harry had collected all three Deathly Hallows, reminding the wizarding world that Harry was a parselmouth (an ability that had not vanished despite the destruction of the horcrux in his scar), and making up stories of him speaking out against the new Minister of Magic. The wizarding public had eaten up the lies and Harry had withdrawn from the public eye to escape the backlash. Andromeda Tonks had even gone so far as to obtain a magical restraining order to prevent him from even seeing his godson.

Luna and Neville had supported him and eventually joined him in seclusion. Dudley had sought sanctuary with Harry not long after that when his girlfriend (a muggleborn witch that had tried to use him to get close to Harry) dumped him and started sending him cursed objects (such as Shrinking Keys and Biting Teacups). The witch, whose name Harry never bothered to learn, had murdered Petunia and Vernon a day after Dudley went into hiding and the Weasleys were quick to pin the murder on Harry with Dudley's ex-girlfriend playing 'witness' to the murder.

Things had escalated quickly after that and just this morning, Headmistress McGonagall sent her patronus to Grimmauld Place (where Harry and the others were hiding) to warn them that the Weasleys had been trying to drum up a mob to hunt down the 'Dark Lord Potter' and his 'Dark Lieutenants'. The silvery cat had barely finished relaying the message before the wards around Number Twelve had come crashing down and a dozen aurors plus seven Weasleys had stormed the house. The fight had been short and brutal with the invaders casting dark curses and the Unforgivables right and left.

Harry's side had been winning right up until one of the Weasleys had set the town house on fire shortly after Kreacher had been killed. Harry had dragged a wounded Dudley outside while Luna covered them but they'd been overwhelmed the moment they stepped outside by the large group of disgruntled purebloods that had surrounded the entire house to prevent them from escaping. They'd been bound in conjured ropes and portkeyed to the bowels of the Ministry after a few rounds of Crucio and a few kicks had been administered and immediately hauled into the Death Chamber for their execution.

And then they had been cast through the Veil without even a token trial. Harry wept harder as he tried to see or sense if one of the others were close to him but he could see and feel nothing inside of the endless darkness that had engulfed him.

It was at that point that an unfamiliar voice cut through the dark to pull Harry from his memories as it asked, '_Why do you cry?_'

"I weep for the suffering that my friends endured simply because they were my friends and stood bravely at my side despite all the lies that were being spread about me," Harry replied as he tried to see who (or what) had spoken to him.

'_Why does it matter if they have suffered; have you not suffered as well?_'

"My pain is unimportant in the face of their pain."

'_Do you truly believe that?_'

"Yes."

'_If you were given a chance to end their suffering, would you?_'

"In a heartbeat," Harry answered passionately without an ounce of hesitation.

'_And would you still do so if you were told that you would have to sacrifice something of yourself in order to end their suffering?_'

"Absolutely."

'_Why?_'

"Because they are my friends and they deserve a chance to be happy."

'_What of your happiness? Do you not wish to be happy as well?_'

"I would be happy knowing that they were safe from those that would hurt them."

'_Would you willingly pay half of your life to save them?_'

"Yes."

'_Would you give up any chance of returning to the world in which you were born to save them?_'

"Yes."

'_Would you give up your negative emotions to save them?_'

"Yes."

'_So be it, child. Your wish has been granted and your payment accepted._'

"Wait, what? Who are you? What do you mean?" Harry demanded in confusion and no small amount of fear as he finally realized he had no idea who it was that was speaking to him or what was going on; not that it would have changed any of his answers if he had.

There was no answer from the voice.

Harry then had all of five seconds to worry about what had just happened before the world around him exploded in a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds. He let out a short, sharp cry that was half pain and half shock as he slapped his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and tucked himself up in a ball to escape the blinding light and noise. He hadn't quite recovered from the explosion of color and sound when it felt like his entire body had suddenly been set on fire.

Harry would black out from the sheer agony before he could even give voice to the scream that had been trying to climb out the back of his throat.

* * *

**Notes:**

Quidditch Quandaries – author created magazine  
Which Broomstick – canon magazine

* * *

**AN:** _Alright, just a couple of things I need to say right off the bat… First; just because I started a new HP/Pokémon crossover does not mean that my original HP/Pokémon crossover series has been abandoned. In fact, the research and work I've done on this story have helped to inspire me to once again go back and start working on WWYR2 once more; so you can hopefully see updates on that dusty old story eventually since I've spent some time reacquainting myself with that story's plot and ironing out a few kinks. _

_Second, while at first glance, this story will seem like all of the other everyone betrays Harry and now he has to go to a new world, I have at least tried to come at it from a different angle. One difference is the inclusion of Dudley rather than a third magical; I've grown kind of attached to Dudley Redeemed stories and felt that he could use a little positive Pokémon adventure in his life this time around. I'll also being trying out two new pairings in this story as you might have noticed from the summary. _

_I don't think I've ever read a Dudley/Luna story before and can see her uniqueness being something that draws in my Dudley in this story because she is everything that his parents hated and the fantasy that he had been denied as a child growing up in a household where magic, in any form, did not exist. I have also never seen Harry paired with Daisy Oak (Gary's older sister in the games, I believe her manga name is Nanami or May) in previous HP/Pokémon crossovers. ~ Jenn_

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes._


	2. A Confusing Turn of Events

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter One: A Confusing Turn of Events

_October 31, 2030  
Berry Meadow, Route 01  
Kanto Region_

Green eyes snapped open and stared at the bent and bruised blades of grass that filled their direct line of sight through the broken lenses of the glasses that were stilled perched upon the face in which said green eyes were set. After a couple of minutes, the owner of said eyes slowly sat up so that he could figure out exactly where he was. He tensed up the moment that he realized he was completely surrounded by an abundance of tall grass that blocked all but the sky and a few tree-tops from his line of sight. The unfamiliarity of his immediate surroundings was put out of his mind just two minutes later when his most recent memories, along with his name, came flooding back to him.

Harry had just five seconds to wonder why the hell he wasn't dead after being shoved through the Veil of Death before he curiously wondered where the others were and raised his voice as he called out, "Luna? Dudley? Is anyone there?"

"I'm here," Luna dreamily called after a moment. "At least I think I am. I seem to have picked up a severe Wrackspurt infection upon waking up since I do not know where here is or how I got here. I am also rather confused as to why your voice sounds so much younger than I remember you sounding like just this morning. At least I think it was just this morning."

"I feel slightly off but I don't think it's anything to worry about," Harry mused as he took stock of his body and absently noted that the injuries he'd sustained during the earlier fight were still sluggishly bleeding.

"You've always been slightly off; so that's nothing new," a voice that he thought belonged to Dudley suggested from somewhere off to the young man's right; though the voice sounded like a much younger Dudley.

"You always say the nicest things, cousin," Harry drawled a touch sarcastically even as he felt comforted by the proof that his cousin had not died after being thrown through the Veil due to a lack of magic. "By the way, how's your noggin feeling? I could have sworn I saw you get dropped on your head.

"Figures you'd take that as a compliment," Dudley retorted in amusement as he began moving through the grass in Harry's direction based on the rustle of grass moving in his direction. "And I'm mostly fine; just feeling as if my head is going to split open and as if I'd been worked over until I was nothing but a walking bruise." He would pop up in front of Harry just a few minutes later and both of them let out a startled yelp the moment they laid eyes on one another. "You look like a little kid!"

"So do you!" Harry blurted out in surprise. "You lost a whole bunch of weight too because the last time you were that small, you were almost as wide as you were tall. I should also point out that you look rather like a walking bruise too; though I think I remember you looking worse before we were tossed into the Veil."

Dudley glanced down at himself and mumbled a confused, "Huh, you're right."

"Luna, did you shrink too?" Harry asked as glanced down at his shrunken hands; shrunken hands that he had not noticed earlier when he'd been checking his injuries.

"I can't tell. I don't feel any different but I might look different."

"Why not just look at your hands and see if they've grown smaller?" Dudley suggested as he began patting himself down in an effort to make sure everything else was where it belonged and to determine how bad his injuries were.

"It is rather difficult to see anything when my eyes refuse to work. I wonder if I ran into an angry Umgubular Slashkilter recently; they have been known to aim for the eyes first when they go on a rampage."

"Are you still wearing the blindfold they put on you after we were captured?" Harry inquired as he easily ignored Luna's reference to one of her non-existent creatures.

"No, it was knocked off when we were pushed through the Veil. I think my eyes are broken. The voice in the void did ask me if I was willing to sacrifice my sight for a chance to stay with my friends. I did not think it meant my eyesight though; I thought I was giving up my ability to _see_ the little glimpses of the possibilities that swirl around me."

"The weird voice asked me to give up half of my life and the extra weight I've been carrying around with me so that I could have a chance to be a better person," Dudley stated in a quiet voice. "It also said something about giving up any chance to go back to where I was born. Did you have to give up something too, cousin?"

"Yeah… I sacrificed half of my life, a chance to go back, and something about my emotions for a chance for you guys to be happy. I guess that means that whatever we agreed to sacrifice was taken from us."

"Half of our lives…? We were all twenty years old… so does that mean we are all ten now?" Luna inquired curiously as the two boys began heading towards her voice.

"I'd have expected the being to take half of the years we had left to live, not half of the years we'd already lived through though," Harry stated as the two boys reached Luna's side to find that she too looked like a kid and that the injuries he'd noticed on her earlier looked as if they'd completely stopped bleeding (unlike his). "And yes, it seems that you were shrunk just like us. At least our clothes shrank with us." He then noticed the milky film over her. His voice grew soft as he added, "You are also blind. I am so, so very sorry that I dragged you into this."

"Don't be; I am not. I gave up my eyes willingly so I could stay with you. I would much rather be blind and with my friends then be able to see but be all alone."

"What happens now? And where are we?" Dudley asked in order to change the topic as the two boys dropped down to sit beside Luna.

"We should probably try to find the nearest town," Harry suggested after a moment. "We need to have our injuries treated or buy the supplies to treat them ourselves and we'll need clean clothes. That's going to be the only way to figure out where we ended up. Once we know where we are, we can decide what we're going to do."

"We need to find our wands first," Luna countered with a slight frown. "Though I'm not sure how much use I will be in searching for them since I can't _see_ any of us actually finding them and therefore can't tell you where to look."

"I should be able to just summon them using the Elder Wand," Harry replied confidently as he reached down to grab the mokeskin pouch that he kept tied to his left ankle. When his hand felt nothing but bare skin beneath his questing fingers, he sucked in a sharp breath and leaned over to stare at his bare ankle in mild surprise. Instead of getting angry or scared though, he just felt rather numb. "Or not, since my mokeskin pouch is missing and with it the Deathly Hallows and my money. Oh well, better to have lost it in the Veil than to have left it in the hands of idiots."

"Or it fell off either when we landed wherever we are or when we were walking through the grass," Dudley pointed out as he climbed to his feet and dug through his pockets for a moment. "My pockets are empty as well; which means I lost my keys, my phone, and the loose change I had on me when we were thrown through that weird curtain thingy."

"Come on then, Dudders; the two of us might as well start searching through the grass for our missing things. Luna, you wait here so we can find our way back to our starting point if we get lost in the grass."

Over the course of the next two hours, Harry and Dudley would find roughly six thousand gold coins that almost looked like galleons but instead had large 'P's inscribed on one side and an assortment of strange looking creatures on the other side. They had also found three solid black balls that were about the size of a golf ball with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows drawn in white around a silver button and another three balls that were white with an electric blue swirl pattern that wrapped around the entire ball and a one inch silver star centered over a black button. There had been no sign of the missing wands, the Deathly Hallows, Harry's mokeskin pouch, or Dudley's things.

Everything they found was hauled back to where Luna was sitting so they could study them.

Their reasoning? The coins were an obvious form of currency and they would need the money to survive when they reached the nearest town. The strange balls gave off magical auras and Harry suspected that the black ones might have something to do with the missing Hallows because of the familiar symbol engraved upon them.

As they worked, the two boys had seen a number of strange creatures (most of them appearing to be cat-sized purple rats or small bird-like creatures) but they had all fled the moment that either boy approached them. Unknown to the two boys, the behavior of the creatures was actually out of character and entirely due to the aura of death that clung to them from their trip through the Veil of Death. That dark aura would slowly fade over the course of the next two days until it vanished entirely.

After two hours of searching, Dudley and Harry returned to Luna's side to inspect their finds and decide whether they would stay where they were for another couple of days in order to search for their missing things or if they should just write them off as permanently lost and head to the nearest town. The first thing they addressed was the money they had found; the three of them dividing the coins up evenly so that if they got separated, they would all have some money on hand to buy themselves food. The money was secured in makeshift pouches they made from the hem of Harry's robes and strung on thin cords made from braided blades of long grass so they could belt them around their waists since their pockets were too small to hold more than a handful of coins total.

That just left the six strange balls left to inspect.

Luna was the first one to figure out that the buttons in the middle of the balls caused them to grow to the size of croquet ball. A second push of the button caused them to split in half and spill out a strange creature in a beam of red light. The one she opened had been one of the white and blue balls that she'd been drawn to from the moment Dudley had set it down in the grass beside her. The creature that had spilled out of the ball looked like a cross between a ball and a pig with a spring like tail that it continuously bounced on. The little creature glanced around at them once before it locked eyes with Luna and simply stared at her for a full minute before it bounced up to her and nudged her knee.

While Luna cooed over the curious little creature (her fingers eagerly tracing the creature's features in order to 'see' what it looked like), Harry studied it in an effort to figure out what it was; aside from the fact that it was magical, since it was obviously not a normal pig. The animal was pink like a normal pig but it had no hind legs, stubby little front legs that were too short to reach the ground, was about the size of a football, and had a large black pearl balanced between its ears. Around its neck, the pig-like animal wore a black collar with a polished wooden tag.

Thinking that the other two blue and white balls also held pig-like creatures, Harry picked up the one that felt almost familiar to him before he passed the last one to Dudley. He then clicked the button on the ball he held and watched as a lion cub appeared in a beam of red light instead.

Its fur was a uniform light tan in color with a white splotch (almost like a face mask) covering its lower face, four white socks on its feet, white tipped ears, white tuft of fur on its tail, and a pink nose. Its eyes were a vibrant emerald green with white pupils that made the color of its irises stand out sharply. It also had a tuft of flames growing on the top of its head like a tuft of fur. And it too wore a black collar with a wooden tag

If there had been any doubt that the two creatures were magical, the living flame on the cub's head would have put them to rest.

The new cub stalked right up to Harry and climbed into his lap without an ounce of fear. Harry wasn't bothered in the least by the creature's boldness or by the flames on its head. After studying the brave creature for a couple of minutes, he began scratching the cub behind the ears and it let out a loud, rumbling purr as it rolled over onto its back. Harry grinned as he rubbed the friendly cub's belly (absently noting the creature was male) before he leaned down to take a closer look at the wooden tag on the cub's collar. He was a bit shocked when he realized that the tag was made from holly wood and that the magic radiating from it felt like the magic of his holly wand.

"Hey, Luna; what do you feel when you touch the wooden tag on the pig-like critter's collar?"

"It reminds me of my wand, why?"

"The tag on the collar that this cub is wearing reminds me of my wand. What do you think that means?"

"I don't know."

"_It means you belong to me,_" the little male cub rumbled as he caught hold of Harry's hand with his paws and licked his fingers.

Harry froze in shock at hearing the cub speak before he let out a snort of amusement and relaxed. It was obviously a magical creature; so, of course it talked. He just didn't realize that it wasn't speaking English since he was too wrapped up in giving the creature the affection it seemed to crave from him.

"_What kind of creature are you and where did you come from?_" Harry inquired as he playfully tickled the cub's chin.

"_I am a Lion Cub Pokémon called a Litleo and you brought me with you._"

"_Is Litleo your name?_"

"_No, it is what I am, my species; like you are a human. You have not yet given me a name._"

"_What exactly is a Pokémon?_"

"_Pokémon are special creatures that inhabit this world and we are sort of like the magical creatures of our old world but different. The Pokémon with the girl is a Spoink; the Bounce Pokémon._"

"Harry, are you alright? You're talking really weird," Dudley interrupted at that point as he stared at Harry and the lion cub on his lap.

"Huh? What do you mean? I was just talking to the Litleo curled up on my lap."

"No, you were saying weird things that sounded like 'lit lit leo litleo leo' or something like that and it was saying the same stuff back to you."

"But… but he was talking to me in English."

"Parseltongue," Luna corrected in a sing-song voice.

"But he's not a snake; he's a Pokémon."

"What's a Pokémon?" Dudley asked as he glanced at Harry in confusion.

"That's what these creatures are; Pokémon. This one with me is a Litleo; the Lion Cub Pokémon and the one with Luna is a Spoink; the Bounce Pokémon. What makes you think that I was speaking parseltongue, Luna?"

"Since I woke up here, I have _seen_ that there are two types of animals that live here; normal earth-like creatures and these Pokémon creatures," Luna stated in a measured tone that lacked the usual dreamy quality. "Pokémon are the magical creatures of this world. Our magic was changed when we fell through the Veil so that it was compatible with this world's magic; meaning that your ability to speak to snakes and serpents was most likely changed into an ability to speak to Pokémon. I suspect that you will no longer be able to speak to or understand normal snakes now; since they will lack the magic necessary to communicate with you."

"Oh, I suppose that actually makes sense. Thank you for explaining, Luna."

"You're welcome, Harry."

"So, Big D; are you ever going to open that ball and see what's inside?"

"I guess… are you sure one of you shouldn't take it though? I mean, you two are the ones with magic."

"You have magic in this world too and the Pokémon inside of that ball was meant for you," Luna countered with her usual dreamy tone as she smiled in Dudley's direction.

"Oh. How do you know that?"

"I can _see_ the magic in your soul now and I _see_ you with a companion."

"That has to be weird," Dudley commented as he clicked the button and released a Pokémon that looked nothing like a lion cub or a pig. Or any other creature that the three of them had ever seen. In fact, the creature looked more like a gold and light blue doorknob with a ring of keys stuck to it than an actual animal. "I think I found my missing keys."

"And a sense of humor," Harry quipped playfully.

"Hardy, har, har; funny, cousin. What exactly is it?"

"_That's a Klefki,_" the Litleo on Harry's lap stated as it rolled over and sat up to study the newly released Pokémon.

"Did it tell you what this one is?" Dudley asked as the odd animal that was currently circling around his head while jangling the keys on its ring. "And what it's supposed to do?"

"He called it a Klefki but I have no clue what it's supposed to do."

"_They are troublesome Pokémon that like to steal keys._"

"_Finders ~ keepers,_" the Klefki sing-sang as it gave a particularly sharp shake of the handful of keys that were strung on the key ring.

"You know, there's probably a joke or a pun that starts like this. It's a talking knob, for crying out loud. And I'm not even going to touch the fact that it came out of a blue ball," Dudley complained as he eyed the strange looking creature.

Silence fell over the trio of de-aged and displaced Englishmen before all three of them burst out laughing in response to Dudley's somewhat crass observations. If two-thirds of the laughter soon began to sound more like sobs, well, Harry wasn't about to call the others out on it; the three of them had just been torn from their lives, after all. He did wonder why he didn't feel as torn up about their displacement as the others did but didn't dwell on the matter for long. Sometime later, the three of them fell silent as they got lost in their thoughts.

"What do we do with these guys now? And what about the other balls?" Dudley asked after another half hour of silence had passed.

"No clue," Harry replied tiredly as he glanced in Dudley's direction before he eyed the symbol of the Deathly Hallows that he could make out on the closest ball.

"_You could return us to our PokéBalls if you do not need our help right now,_" the Litleo suggested from Harry's lap.

"_What's a PokéBall?_"

"_A PokéBall is a device that is used to store Pokémon. There are different colors and types of PokéBalls that can be used and some have special features that make them desirable to Pokémon Trainers. Because we were not originally of this world, our PokéBalls are different than normal PokéBalls since they carry traces of your magic. My PokéBall is the blue and white ball that you released me from earlier._"

"What did he say?" Dudley asked the moment the Litleo fell silent.

"He said we could put them back in funny little balls we released them from; only he called them PokéBalls."

"If the blue and white ones had these guys in them, does that mean the black ones have more creatures too?"

"I suppose it's possible," Harry agreed as he carefully considered the black balls.

"_The Pokémon contained in those PokéBalls are far stronger than me,_" the Litleo stated as he shuddered. "_They were born from the remnants of the death magic that clung to the Deathly Hallows._"

"_How do you know that?_"

"_I was your loyal companion for nine years and you used the Elder Wand to fix me before we were thrown through the Veil; I know all that you know of magic and the Hallows. I was also given the knowledge to guide you in this world in order to help you adjust to your new life and to protect you from the dangers that are found in this world. Just as the Spoink was meant to help your companion._"

"_Did you just imply that you used to be my holly wand?_" Harry asked incredulously.

"_Yes, all magical objects that pass through the Veil into this world are turned into Pokémon; the magic they once held fueling their new life. There are exceptions; such as the money you were carrying. Some of it became Pokémon, some of it was lost in the Void between Worlds, and the rest was transformed into this world's currency. You also lost some to those wild Pokémon that are attracted to shiny things and overlooked those that had fallen into hard to reach places. The other magical items you brought with you were changed into Pokémon as well and they were scattered about the lands as only those with strong attachments to your and your companions, like me, stayed with you._"

"_Why did Dudley's keys turn into a Pokémon then? His keys weren't magical._"

"_There was a cursed key mixed in with the other keys and he was wearing magical ropes when he was pushed through the Veil._"

"_So, when you said that the Pokémon in the black PokéBalls were created from the Hallows… does that mean that the Hallows were turned into Pokémon like you?_"

"_Yes._"

"_What am I supposed to do with them?_"

"_Whatever you wish so long as you do not attempt to set them free for their power is easily corrupted. Since you were their master and you were the one who brought them to this world, you are ultimately responsible for seeing to it that they are not abused and that their power does not fall into the wrong hands._"

"Oh," Harry numbly muttered to himself as he reached out to snag one of the foreboding PokéBalls; a small part of him wondering why he wasn't frightened or at least worried to learn that the Hallows had been turned into powerful sentient creatures.

"What did you learn?" Dudley asked warily as he eyed the two PokéBalls on the ground before he gave the one in Harry's hand the same treatment.

"That all magical items that pass through the Veil are transformed into Pokémon. The cub insists that he used to be my wand and that Luna's wand was the Spoink. And it turns out that your keys were in fact the Klefki you now own; there was a cursed key on your key ring. The Deathly Hallows were also transformed; they're inside of the black PokéBalls."

"Daddy will no doubt regret the loss of the Deathly Hallows once he learns they no longer exist in our old world," Luna lamented sadly. "It is probably for the best though; Daddy wished to claim them for all the wrong reasons and he would have tormented himself needlessly."

"What are you thinking about doing with those?" Dudley inquired a touch nervously; his old fear of magic still present despite the fact that he'd grown comfortable with Harry and Luna after living with them and Neville for quite some time before their refuge had been invaded.

"Well, I was thinking that since there are three of us, it would make far more sense for each of us to take one of them and that way the power of the Hallows wouldn't be sitting in just one person's hands."

"Are you sure that is safe?" Luna asked in a cautious tone.

"I trust both of you."

"How are you going to pick who gets which one?"

"I will keep this one," Harry stated as he noted the way the line bisecting the circle and triangle on the Deathly Hallow symbol seemed to glow gold as he held it in his hand. He suspected that the glowing line meant that the Pokémon contained inside was formed from the Elder Wand due to the fact that the line was meant to represent the wand.

"I will take this one then," Luna announced as she seemingly grabbed one of the remaining two at random and Harry caught a small flash of the circle on the symbol glowing gold; Luna had chosen the Pokémon that had once been the Resurrection Stone.

That left Dudley with the former Invisibility Cloak. And despite the fact that the Cloak had been something of a family heirloom, Harry found that he didn't mind his cousin taking care of that item. It was the least harmful out of the three Hallows and therefore the one that would be least likely to give the (apparently) former muggle a hard time.

This time, Dudley was the first one to release the Pokémon contained inside of the dark PokéBall he'd ended up with and the light beam released the creature into the air above the trio. The once pudgy boy screamed like a little girl two seconds later when the creature swooped at him while letting loose a creepy, crying scream. Dudley then automatically punched the Pokémon out of fear and the creature's cry changed from spooky to pained as it immediately fled from Dudley and ended up plastering itself to Harry's chest as it shook and shivered.

Dudley then tossed the empty PokéBall at Harry as he blurted out, "I don't want that one! I don't want either of the others either if they're going to jump out at me like that every time I let them out! Keep them both! I'm perfectly happy with my Keys."

Harry just nodded absently as he studied the Pokémon glued to his chest. This creature had a distinctly human cast to its features; a round face, long flowing silvery-blue hair streaked with gold, and what looked like a necklace made up of red crystal beads. At the same time, there was an inhuman quality to the creature; the way it lacked visible arms and legs, the silvery-blue color of its formless body (the color reminding him of the ghosts in Hogwarts), and the strange red and yellow eyes. It looked very much like the ghost of a child that had been drawn by a child.

After he finished studying the Pokémon, Harry pushed the button on the empty PokéBall and returned the creature to its PokéBall for the time being. He then tucked both Deathly PokéBalls into his pocket so they wouldn't get lost. The green-eyed man turned boy had no wish to unleash the reincarnation of the Wand if the former Cloak was that scary; not that he had felt the least bit frightened by the creature.

Luna had no such reservations though and she promptly released the former Resurrection Stone. Instead of a flying ghost-like Pokémon, a small round Pokémon that looked more like a ball than an animal appeared in the beam of red light. It wasn't until the thing turned around that Harry could see that it was some kind of bird. Its coloring was mostly pale green with black and light orange accents on its wings. Its tail feathers, the single feather that stuck up straight from the center of its head, and its feet were also pale orange. Its eyes were a bright red with black pupils and white sclera and it had a sharp looking yellow beak.

Overall, it was a rather cute and surprisingly calm when compared to the other Pokémon they'd released. It was also surprisingly tolerant of Luna's gentle probing as she tried to 'see' the bird with her hands. Harry didn't make the mistake of thinking the bird was harmless though. There was an obvious intelligence in its eyes and the aura it gave off was very strong; which wasn't really surprising when one recalled the powerful object that had given birth to it.

"_What kind of Pokémon is that?_" Harry asked the Litleo still perched in his lap.

"_She is a Natu; the Tiny Bird Pokémon. The other one that scared the other boy was a female Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon._"

"_Do you know what kind of creature the Elder Wand was turned into?_"

"_No, I won't know what it has become until I see what it is._"

"_He turned into the Pokémon that best fit his nature,_" the Natu calmly stated as she turned to stare right at Harry. "_We all became the creature that embodied our natures. As an artifact with the power to draw upon the souls of the dead across time and space, my form was shifted into a psychic creature that had a strong connection to the flow of time. The Cloak was designed to hide the wearer and both you and its previous two masters used it exclusively for mischief and so it became a mischievous ghost that takes great delight in pranking and scaring others._"

"_And the Wand?_" Harry prompted after a brief hesitation.

"_The Wand has a long and bloody history as he was passed from one tyrant to the next. Where the Wand went, disaster was sure to follow and so it is not surprising that he became a herald for disaster in this life as well. His species is much feared and like the Wand itself, his new form is tightly wrapped in layers of superstition, fear, and mistrust. He is, to put it bluntly, a newborn Disaster Pokémon._"

"_Absol; the Pokémon that Natu speaks of is an Absol,_" the Litleo clarified with a shiver.

"_A Dark Pokémon if ever there was one,_" Dudley's Klefki added as the keys it held jingled together nervously.

"_What do you mean by dark?_" Harry asked with a touch of mild concern while a part of him wondered why he wasn't panicking at the thought of being connected to a dark creature.

"_Just like there are different kinds of magic, there are different types of Pokémon and our type determines what kind of abilities we can learn. I am a dual type Pokémon because I am both a Normal and a Fire type,_" the Litleo explained as he scratched at his right ear with his right hind leg. "_Spoink and Natu are both single type Pokémon; they are both Psychic type. Klefki is a dual type like me; he is a Steel and Fairy type. Absol is a Dark type and Misdreavus is a Ghost type._"

"_So the Wand is evil?_"

"_Dark does not mean evil,_" Natu corrected as she ruffled her feathers impatiently. "_Shadows are dark; does that mean that all shadows are evil? And fire can be considered 'light' does that mean that all fire is harmless? No. It does not._"

"_Then what does 'dark' mean?_"

"_The dark is just another element like fire, water, electricity, air, earth, or spirits,_" the Spoink interjected as it spoke up for the first time since Luna released it from its PokéBall.

"_How many types of Pokémon are there? And does the species of a Pokémon have anything to do with their type?_"

"_There are currently eighteen known types of Pokémon in existence and yes, a Pokémon's species has everything to do with their type as all Pokémon of the same species are all of the same exact type. And all Pokémon of the same type carry similar characteristics or abilities. Such as all Flying type Pokémon have wings or wing like appendages or all Water type Pokémon can manipulate water with varying degrees of control and produce large quantities of water at the higher levels._"

"_This is all so confusing,_" Harry complained as he reached up to scrub at his face; his hand knocking his cracked glasses askew.

"Hey, cousin; can you stop chatting for a moment?" Dudley asked as soon as there was a short lull in the conversation that Harry was having with the Pokémon. "We need to figure out what we're going to do for food. It's been ages since we last ate and I'm starving."

"_I can smell ripe pecha berries somewhere close by,_" the Litleo stated as he jumped down out of Harry's lap and stuck his nose up in the air and scented the breeze. "_This way, master; I will show where to find food!_"

Harry scrambled to his feet when the little lion cub took off into the tall grass and hurried to follow after the creature as he called back over his shoulder, "Come on, Dudders; the Litleo said he knew where to find food. We'll be back in a few minutes, Luna."

The two boys were soon all but lost in the tall grass as the followed the line of bent grass the lion cub had left in its wake as it plowed through the grass. When they finally found the wand turned baby lion, it was grinning like a loon as it sat at the base of a large bush laden with strange fruits that looked like a cross between a peach and a strawberry and roughly the size of a racquetball. There were several other similar bushes peeking up over the tall grass on either side of the one the Litleo was seated beside.

"Are those safe to eat?" Dudley asked as he moved up beside the bush and squinted at the sweet smelling fruits.

"_Yes, just don't eat the green ones; they are not yet ripe._"

"Yes, but don't pick the green ones," Harry repeated in English for Dudley's benefit as he headed towards a different bush to start gathering some of the fruits. As he worked, Harry addressed the Litleo once more to ask, "_What about you guys? Do all Pokémon eat fruits like these too or do you eat meat?_"

"_All Pokémon will eat berries but each species also has a preferred diet. Some Pokémon eat other Pokémon; an example would be most of the bird Pokémon eating the smaller species of bug Pokémon. Others eat grass or other plants almost exclusively. And, of course, there are carnivorous Pokémon that eat the non-Pokémon creatures that inhabit this world. In the wild, my species will eat berries, bugs, and other animals; including some species of smaller Pokémon._"

"_I am not a wild Pokémon though and will eat whatever food you provide me with unless you allow me to hunt. The same will apply to the other Pokémon in our party. So you need not worry that any of us will seek to eat or kill the others. We will fight though. It is a Pokémon's nature to fight as that is how we grow stronger. We fight best when we are paired with a trainer, a human that is both partner and master to his or her Pokémon, but we will not listen to a weak trainer._"

"This world just keeps getting more and more complicated," Harry complained under his breath as he tucked another berry into the makeshift basket he'd made out of his shirt. "Hey, Dudley; make sure you grab enough for us to share the berries with the Pokémon. We can always make a couple of trips if we have to."

The two cousins returned to their little clearing in the grass where Luna was waiting for them a half an hour later; both of them loaded down with berries. They would make two more trips in order to grab enough to appease their own hunger in addition to the hunger of the six Pokémon that were part of their group. Along side of the pecha berries, they also brought back a few round, blue berries that were called oran berries and a bunch of other berries that looked like a blue strawberries that were called rawst berries. Both blue berries were right around the size of a golf ball.

Once they figured they had enough for a meal or two (if they didn't gorge themselves), Harry and Dudley divided them up into nine piles (one for each Pokémon and one for each person). Harry then released the Misdreavus from her PokéBall and once again the Ghost Pokémon swooped down to purposefully scare Dudley. His cousin tried to punch the Pokémon again but this time the strange creature simply phased through Dudley's hand and arm; drawing yet another scream from him. Harry quickly drew Misdreavus's attention away from Dudley by offering her some berries.

As soon as she showed signs of being full, Harry returned her to her PokéBall to keep her from playing tricks on his slightly older cousin. The little Litleo had finished eating at about the same time but Harry allowed him to stay out due to the fact that he had been rather helpful since he'd first been released. Dudley ended up returning his Klefki to its PokéBall as well while Luna left both of hers out since they were not causing any trouble. It was at that point that Harry reluctantly withdrew the PokéBall holding the new incarnation of the Elder Wand and released him.

Unlike the other five Pokémon, which were all no taller than their knees (if that), the new Pokémon stood chest high to the three adults turned children on all fours and currently towered over the seated group. Harry quickly estimated him to be bigger than Fang (Hagrid's old boar hound). His body and face were a blend of feline and canine characteristics. His fur was the same bone-white color of the former Elder Wand while his skin was the color of burnished copper and seemed to glow in the late afternoon light. He had a thick, shaggy neck ruff that extended down his chest (giving him the appearance of wearing a long beard) that was bisected by a black collar with a bone-white wooden disk on it.

All four of his feet were tipped with copper colored claws and his elbows and heels had small, slightly curved spikes of copper that looked just as dangerous. His tail was furless and shaped like a scythe; the copper skin glinting dangerously and giving the appearance that the creature actually had a blade for a tail. Growing out of the right side of his head was a great horn that curved around towards the back of the head and shaped like a sickle. Like the creature's tail, it appeared to be made from metal and sharp enough to cut.

On top of his head, there was a tuft of smooth fur that was shaped like a comma or half of a yin-yang symbol. There was even a burnished copper oval that sat directly over the center of the creature's forehead; which only increased the resemblance to half of the yin-yang symbol. His eyes were sapphire blue with white pupils and sclera and brimming with intelligence and power. All in all, Absol was an intimidating creature whose aura spoke of tightly wound power.

Clearing his throat, Harry bravely held out a pecha berry to the creature (the wizard incapable of feeling any fear) and asked, "_Are you hungry? Would you like a berry?_"

Instead of answering, the Absol slowly closed the distance between them and got right up in Harry's face as his blue eyes locked onto Harry's green eyes. Harry calmly sat there as the powerful Pokémon weighed and measured his soul for a long minute before he sat down and gently ate the berry from Harry's hand in one bite. Not even the brief glimpse of Absol's sharp teeth could inspire any fear in Harry as he silently picked up several more berries and feed them to the Disaster Pokémon one at a time.

After he had eaten roughly eighteen of the berries, the Absol rose to his feet and stretched languidly before he circled Harry once and dropped down onto his belly right beside Harry and leaned against him as he stated, "_I require a name, human._"

"_Er, can you give me a couple of days to come up with something suitable?_"

"_I will allow it._"

"_Thank you._"

"_I want a name too,_" the Litleo insisted as he slunk up to Harry and crawled into his lap once more.

"_You'll have to wait as well; the last time I named a companion of mine, it took me a week to find one that she liked well enough to accept._"

The rest of the afternoon was then spent being educated on the world of Pokémon by Litleo and Natu while Absol occasionally deigned to correct them and Spoink slept in Luna's arms. Harry translated what he learned for his two human companions so that they wouldn't be caught flatfooted. All told, the three of them learned all about the different types of Pokémon (and the known weaknesses of each type), the various moves that each type could be taught, and the importance of battling.

With the setting of the sun, the precariousness of their position made itself known to the three displaced children; the chill of the rapidly approaching winter biting deeply as the temperature dropped rather sharply the moment the last rays of the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Out of the three of them, Harry was the only one who had some idea of how to survive in the wild without a wand or any real supplies. Even so, if not for the presence of the Pokémon, the three of them probably would not have survived the night.

The Litleo that had once been his holly and phoenix feather wand proved to be the most helpful. The little lion cub had dug down into the soft loam beneath the tall grasses to create an underground burrow using a move called **Dig**. The cub had also helped Harry start a fire after he and Dudley had collected a bunch of dry grass and dead wood using another move it called **Ember**. Extra grass was then collected to use as mattresses for them to sleep on and the tunnel leading into the burrow blocked off with loose dirt to keep the heat inside (a small hole in the ceiling allowing the smoke to escape).

Once they were comfortable, the last of their berry harvest was eaten for supper before they curled up to sleep while the Absol kept watch over them.

* * *

**Notes:**

Pokémon colors – in case it wasn't obvious, all of the Pokémon born from magical objects are shiny Pokémon (even those that didn't stick around). The colors used can be considered canon as they were pulled from the colored sprites used in the games (source for those I've not personally seen came from Bulbapedia – the Wiki page for Pokémon) except for Misdreavus's coloring because I think they look rather weird in green.

Coins – the gold coins that Harry &amp; Dudley found were based upon the Poké Coins that are used in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Games. I chose to use Poké as this universe's currency since it was easier. The coins that they found were converted over from the wizarding money that Harry had in his mokeskin pouch and the amount they found was what remained after the conversion and what they managed to pick up before the wild Pokémon got a hold of the shiny coins dotting the grass. So yes, Harry lost money. Can't have him stinking rich right off the bat, after all.

Pokémon/berry size references – the football referenced is a soccer ball (not an American football), a racquetball is roughly 2.25 in., and a golf ball is roughly 1.68 in.

Pokémon Moves/Attacks – will all appear in **bold** type within the story to distinguish them from normal actions.

Luna's visions/Seer Ability – references to Luna's ability to _see_ the future will always be made in _italics_ to distinguish her visions from ordinary sight (which she no longer has in any case).

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes.  
_**09-27-15:**_ Corrected the note regarding Pokemon colors as Misdreavus's description here is NOT the canon shiny color and I'd missed that correction when I first uploaded the revised chapter.  
_


	3. Strange Encounters

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Two: Strange Encounters

_November 01, 2030  
Route 01 near Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

Harry slept blissfully through the night for the first time in a long time; his dreams for once not haunted by his memories or the strangeness of being thrust into a whole new world. If he had been capable of expressing any negative emotions, he probably would have been angry and scared over the situation that he and the others had ended up in but because he couldn't feel those emotions, he simply took the entire ordeal in stride. Something that would have been unnerving if he'd had time to sit down and give any serious thought to what had happened to them.

The deluge of information regarding the new world they'd found themselves in prevented him from doing that though.

He would wake up a half an hour before sunrise the next morning feeling refreshed and surprisingly warm despite the fact that he'd loaned his shortened robes to Luna to use as a blanket. That mystery was soon solved the moment he opened his eyes and discovered that he was wedged in between Absol, Litleo, and Misdreavus; all three Pokémon still fast asleep – though he was curious as to how Misdreavus had gotten out of her PokéBall when he was quite certain he'd left her in the ball when he'd gone to sleep.

The de-aged wizard blinked at the former wands and cloak in bemusement before he carefully wriggled out from between them to check on Luna and Dudley to make certain they were okay. He was a bit startled when he found the two of them curled up together sharing his old robe but after a couple of moments he thought they looked rather cute together. After watching them for a while, he decided against waking them up and instead turned his attention to the dying fire in the middle of their underground burrow.

It only took him a few minutes to coax the glowing embers back to life with a couple of handfuls of dried grass, some bark, and a few of the smaller twigs they'd collected. He then stacked a few more of the thicker logs in a rough log cabin frame in the center of the fire. That done, Harry carefully burrowed his way through the loose dirt blocking the tunnel (making certain he shifted the dirt into the hole his body passed through so the warmth in their burrow wouldn't escape). He poked his head up out of the tunnel just two minutes later and shivered as a cold breeze cut through his clothes.

All around him, the thick layer of frost that coated the long grass sparkled in the starlight.

It was beautiful but cold.

Harry ignored the bite of the wind as he hauled himself out of the hole. He then picked his way through the frost covered grass until he reached the berry bushes that Litleo had led him and Dudley to the previous day. Harry spent another hour carefully searching for any ripe fruits that they had missed the previous afternoon. Once he'd gathered what he could find in the dark, he hauled his harvest back to the tunnel for breakfast. After he delivered the meager haul to the tunnel, Harry ventured off in the opposite direction in the hopes of finding more berry bushes.

He found a dirt road instead.

Harry glanced back towards where he'd left his fellow outcasts before he took out a single coin from his makeshift wallet and flipped it. When the odd coin landed with the 'p' side up, Harry tucked the coin in his pocket and turned left to wander along the road to see where it might lead to. After going all of two steps, he turned back around and deliberately knotted several clumps of grass together to mark the spot he'd exited the grass from and used his foot to draw a huge arrow in the frost covered dirt pointing off in the direction he would be traveling in case the others came searching for him before he got back.

The green eyed boy then set off down the road.

As he walked, Harry let his mind wander through everything he had learned about the new world they'd landed in. In some ways, finding himself in a new world was no different than learning he was a wizard. If not for his experiences in the wizarding world, he probably would have been far more weirded out over the concept of being torn from his home world and thrust into a different world. Even then, there was still a small part of him that felt he was taking his recent displacement far too calmly.

This time, Harry actually poked and prodded at that part of him that kept trying to tell him something was wrong instead of ignoring it. After a few minutes, he came to the conclusion that the part of him that was having trouble accepting his calm acceptance of his new circumstances was born from his memories of all of the trouble that had found him from the day he'd joined the wizarding world. He knew he should be angry. He knew he should be afraid. And he knew he should be very worried about the future.

And yet he wasn't.

He couldn't even force himself to feel angry or scared.

Nor could he find a single shred of grief in his heart for everything and everyone he'd lost.

In fact, there was not a single negative emotion that he could name that he could actually bring himself to feel.

If he had been capable of feeling fear, he might have been frightened by that realization.

Harry knew then that there was something wrong with him but it was very hard to drudge up anything more than mild concern and even that was hard to maintain. It just felt odd. He'd always been a very emotional person; feeling each emotion intimately whether it was joy, fear, or grief. And now, he suddenly couldn't even manage to be angry at the Weasleys for betraying him. That didn't mean he was pleased with their actions; just that he could not get angry over them.

He stumbled to a stop as the ramifications of his new lack of negative emotions settled over him like blanket of freshly fallen snow. He was now incapable of feeling _any_ negative emotion. He could not feel anger. He could not feel fear. He could not feel grief. He could not grow jealous. He could not drudge up even an ounce of hate. He could not hold onto a single worry. He could not feel frustrated. He could not even grow impatient. There were probably another dozen or so other emotions he could no longer feel as well.

And while most people would automatically assume that that was a good thing, it actually wasn't.

Negative emotions often balanced out the positive emotions. Fear allowed one to exercise caution. Grief allowed one to express their love for those who have passed on. Anger was one way of expressing one's displeasure and while too much anger is not good, some anger is necessary at times to act as a catalyst for change.

Negative is not synonymous for evil, after all.

Harry sat down in the middle of the road and buried his hands in his face as he struggled to accept the numb emptiness that had taken the place of his negative emotions. And while he was no longer capable of descending into a true panic, that didn't mean that he was incapable of thinking negative thoughts or recalling negative memories; there was just no emotion attached to said thoughts or memories. The problem was that Harry had always been a very emotional person and his emotions had been the driving force behind nearly everything he'd done during his first twenty years.

Lost in his thoughts, Harry never noticed the wild Pokémon that had begun gathering in the long grass that grew on either side of the dirt road he was sitting on; the creatures eying him with curiosity even as the faint traces of death clinging to him made them fearful and uneasy. He also never noticed the passing of time as the sun steadily rose over the horizon and gradually began melting the frost that had formed during the night when its warming rays spilled onto the ground. The twenty turned ten year old would not be drawn from his internal musings until well over two and a half hours later when a man stumbled across him quite unexpectedly.

"Well, this is a sight I never expected to see," the man declared as he stopped right beside Harry and stared down at the wizard with a combination of surprise and curiosity; the sound of his voice chasing off the wild Pokémon that had been watching Harry from the long grass. "Are you hurt? Or lost? Are your parents nearby?"

Harry merely lifted his face out of his hands and tipped his head back to inspect the stranger before he briefly met the man's gaze; taking in the man's white lab coat, brown slacks, a purple shirt, matching purples slippers, mostly gray hair mixed with light brown strands, and dark blue eyes. His eyes then immediately dropped back down to take a second look at the house slippers that the man was wearing (to confirm that, yes, the man was wearing slippers that were lightly caked and splattered with mud) before he returned his gaze back to the man as he calmly answered the man's questions.

"I'm fine. I don't think I'm lost. And my parents are dead, sir."

"Why are you sitting in the middle of the road, young man? Are you traveling alone? Where are you headed? What happened to your jacket? Aren't you cold? And are you certain you're fine? You're covered in blood and bruises."

"I just needed to sit down and think for a moment," Harry replied in a measured tone as he slowly pushed himself to his feet and wiped the mud from his hands so he didn't have to crane his head back quite so far to meet the man's gaze. "No, I'm not alone. I wasn't exactly traveling; I was just looking for the nearest town. I left my cloak back at our camp and it's not really that cold any more."

"That's because you're half frozen," the man stated with some concern as he took hold of Harry's left hand and began briskly rubbing warmth back into Harry's arm and hand with his hands.

Harry tipped his head to the side as a trickle of confusion filled his mind while he stared at the man's efforts to warm him up. Part of him couldn't help but wonder why he was allowing a perfect stranger to touch him with such familiarity. It felt rather weird to numbly accept the man's ministrations when he'd never much cared for physical contact in the past; especially not from a stranger. He was drawn out of his contemplation when the man crouched down in front of him and reached out to lift Harry's chin with one hand so that Harry was looking at him once more.

"Where did your injuries and the blood on your clothes come from? How did your glasses get broken? Were you recently attacked by wild Pokémon? Where is your Pokémon? Was it injured while protecting you?"

"The wild Pokémon haven't bothered me; they ran away from me and my cousin yesterday and I haven't seen any yet this morning. My Pokémon are just fine; I left them back in the burrow we spent the night in."

"And the blood?" the man prompted as he removed his lab coat and wrapped Harry up in the garment before he tried to rub warmth into Harry's right hand and arm.

Harry felt the corners of his mouth tilt down in a near frown as he contemplated whether or not he should tell the man the truth; his memories conflicting with his emotions due to his inability to feel suspicion or mistrust. After a few minutes, he opted to ignore the question and ask one of his own instead.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Professor Samuel Oak."

"You're a teacher?"

"No, I am a researcher. I study Pokémon and their interactions with humans. So, you could say that I am a Professor of Pokémon."

"Does that mean you speak to them too?" Harry asked with eager curiosity as the mere possibility that he wasn't all that special in this world filled him with hope that he may yet be able to live in the background as Just Harry for once.

"Well, anyone can speak to a Pokémon; the creatures do understand the human language easily enough. Sadly, none of my colleagues have been able to crack the code of the Pokémon language yet and we are still dependant upon pantomime and psychic Pokémon to gain insight into their thoughts. There have been individuals in the past that claimed to have learned Pokémon speech but they all turned out to be frauds that only mimicked the sounds from a handful of the more common species of Pokémon makes when they speak in their colorful language."

Harry felt a small flash of disappointment that faded almost as soon as it had appeared over the fact that he was once again in possession of a fairly rare talent. He wanted to be afraid of that revelation but all he felt was numb.

"Did you have any other questions, young man?"

"No, not really. At least not that I can think of right now."

"Then perhaps you'd be willing to answer a couple of my questions in return."

"What did you want to know?"

"Well, your name would be a good place to start."

"Oh, I'm Harry."

"And how old are you, Harry?"

"Twe… er… I uh… just turned ten," Harry stuttered as he almost gave the man his true age.

"What about your injuries and the blood on your clothes; where did those come from?"

"We were in a fight yesterday and I got hit a few times."

"In that case, I'm going to insist that you come with me back to my lab so that I can treat your injuries; we wouldn't want them to get infected, now would we?"

"I'll be fine. They were much worse yesterday. I really should go back to camp anyway; the others will be worried about me if they woke up after I left."

"Then I am going to insist that you allow me to escort you back to your camp," Professor Oak stated in a no-nonsense tone as he stood back up while keeping hold of Harry's hand. "Lead on, young man."

Harry hesitated for a split second as he held the man's gaze (part of him recognizing the concern and curiosity in the man's eyes) before he broke eye contact to stare at the hem of the professor's coat as it brushed the top of his shoes; his mind supplying the memory of how readily the man had shared the coat. He then glanced up and down the dirt road in order to regain his bearings. It only took him a few seconds to find his back trail in the layer of damp dust that covered the hard road (the early morning frost had preserved his footsteps until the frozen layer began to melt).

"This way, sir," Harry murmured as he turned in the opposite direction he'd been facing and began leading the man back towards where he'd left the others behind when he'd gone exploring.

Harry kept his eyes on the road as he led the man along. As they walked, he couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't pulled his hand away from the man; he was far too old to need someone to hold his hand, after all. At the same time, it was kind of nice to know that an adult, perfect stranger though he was, was showing that much concern for him (though a part of him recognized the fact that that concern was only because of Harry's child-like appearance). Still he couldn't actually recall the last time an _adult_ had held his hand. And no, he didn't count the number of times that the other adults he had known growing up had dragged him along for one reason or another.

In the past, the adults in his life and merely clamped onto his shoulder or his elbow and steered him to where they had wanted him to go; whether he wanted to go with them or not.

So, in a sense, it was kind of weird for him to be leading Professor Oak along while the man gently kept hold of his hand so that they didn't get separated. A very small part of the wizard wondered if this was what it felt like to have a parent… or a grandparent as he cast a brief glance up at the man walking beside him and noted the gray in the man's hair once more. Another part of Harry's mind couldn't help but question his sanity as he willingly led a perfect stranger back to his cousin and his only remaining friend.

The adult wizard who had survived both a borderline abusive childhood (the Dursleys had never quite crossed that line, though they had come close on occasion) and Voldemort's second rise would have never allowed the man to get as close as he had in the first place. Harry had always been rather paranoid but like the rest of his negative emotions, his ability to feel paranoia had been stripped from him. In his birth world, that lack of caution would have seen him dead in a heartbeat. In fact, it almost had on a number of occasions when he hadn't been paranoid enough.

Harry shook away the memories of his past life just a couple of minutes later as he reached the arrow he'd etched into the dirt and turned into the tall grass without any hesitation as he identified the knotted clump of blades he'd tied together earlier. He was so caught up in following the path of bent grass he'd created when he'd waded out of the grass earlier that he never noticed the man beside him frowning the moment he turned into the grass. They had only been in the grass for about five minutes when a small golden-yellow form tackled Harry to the ground with a small growl.

It wasn't long before Harry was laughing out loud as the Litleo his holly wand had turned into began attacking his face with his tongue. He was so wrapped up in his reunion with the little lion cub that he completely missed Professor Oak briefly panicking (in the instant the Litleo had tackled Harry) before he connected the dots and came to the realization that the Pokémon attacking the man turned boy was said boy's companion. By the time Harry pushed Litleo off of his face and sat up, the man was smiling fondly at the two of them.

"_Why did you leave me behind, master? Were you cub-napped from our burrow? Were you newly injured? Did this human hurt you?_" Litleo demanded as he proceeded to sniff every inch of Harry that he could reach in an attempt to find out if he had been hurt further since the last time they'd been together or not.

"_I'm fine,_" Harry automatically replied as he wrapped his arms around the lion cub in order to get him to calm down; his use of the Pokémon language surprising Professor Oak. "_I wasn't kidnapped; I went looking for more berries and found a road and he stumbled across me there._"

"_Why did you not wake us so we could protect you?_" Absol inquired as he broke through the grass and pushed his face right up into Harry's face so that the two of them were eye to eye; an action that made Professor Oak tense up once more since the Absol was far larger and looked rather dangerous. "_You have been gone for hours and the other male human-child that smells faintly of you was worried; though the female human seemed unconcerned._"

"_I didn't want to wake anyone when you all looked so peaceful,_" Harry stated as he shoved the Absol's face away from his and carefully climbed to his feet while holding Litleo in his arms.

"_Still as stubborn as ever,_" Litleo lightly complained as he half wrapped his paws around Harry's neck and peered over the wizard's shoulder at Professor Oak while snuffling at the lab coat that Harry was borrowing. "_Who is the man you dragged back with you? He smells very strongly of many Pokémon species._"

"_He said his name was Professor Oak and he is some kind of Pokémon researcher._"

"_Why did you bring him here?_" Absol asked in a distrustful tone as the Disaster Pokémon stalked forward to warily circle the professor as if to deduce the man's intentions while Professor Oak kept glancing between Harry and the two Pokémon.

"_He would not let me return alone. He originally wished to take me to his workplace to tend my half-healed injuries after he found me on the road._"

"There you are, Harry! Where have you been? I've been worried sick ever since Luna and I woke up an hour ago and found you gone," Dudley blurted out as he appeared from out of the grass next. "And did you have to leave that other Pokémon out of its ball? It keeps popping up and screaming in my face every few minutes." It was at that point that Dudley finally realized that Harry wasn't alone and he stared at the professor for a moment before he demanded, "And who are you?"

"This is Professor Oak; he found me on the road. Professor, sir, this is my cousin Dudley," Harry answered absently. "I'd gone looking for more berries when I woke up before dawn but found the road instead and went looking for the nearest town but got distracted before I got too far."

"Your mimicry of the Pokémon language is excellent; it almost looked and sounded as if you were actually speaking to your companions in their own language," Professor Oak proclaimed as he completely ignored the introduction and focused entirely on Harry and his Pokémon. "Your ability to switch between the dialects of two different species so seamlessly was rather impressive as well. Can you mimic any Pokémon species you come into contact with or do you have to spend days or weeks listening to them speak before you can accurately vocalize their calls in return?"

Harry felt as if he should be afraid the moment it dawned on him that he'd just spoken to the Pokémon in front of the professor. Intellectually, he knew it would be dangerous if word spread that there was a human capable of speaking the Pokémon language after the man had just told him that that ability was very rare (or non-existent); since the man didn't believe such a person actually existed. The wizard just couldn't find it in him to panic due to his inability to feel any negative emotion.

"He's not just mimicking them," Luna answered airily for Harry as she turned up with her two Pokémon and Misdreavus in tow. "Harry is our guide so it is only natural that he can communicate with the natives. He is rather nearsighted though but that is why he needs me to _see_ which path is safest. Gryffindors, like their cousin the lion, are very brave but they need their pride to be strong."

"Are you sure we should be telling people that Harry can speak to the Pokémon?" Dudley asked Luna in a worried tone as he eyed Professor Oak with suspicion.

"We can not regard everyone with suspicion, Dudley; we would only isolate ourselves further."

"_You need not fear this human; the branches of the future that stem from those paths where you chose to trust this man hold no traces of betrayal from him,_" the Natu in Luna's arms interjected unexpectedly.

"_What is that supposed to mean?_" Harry asked in confusion as he whipped his head to the side to meet the strange bird's unblinking gaze.

"_It means that you are free to tell him the truth and that there will be no repercussions for doing so. You will also only make your journey all that much harder if you refuse to let yourself trust him._"

"I have a headache now," Harry complained in human speech without any real feeling as he turned away from Natu.

"What did the bird tell you?" Dudley inquired as he glanced between the Pokémon in Luna's arms and Harry.

"She just gave me some advice and a warning."

"Can you really understand the Pokémon when they speak to you? Would you be willing to allow me to research your ability to speak to Pokémon? Better yet, would you be willing to use your ability to speak to the Pokémon to help me with my Pokémon Research? And could you teach another how to speak and understand Pokémon?" Professor Oak inquired in rapid succession as he dug through his pockets as if searching for something.

"I did not think it was possible for a human to learn Pokémon speech and while I know some Pokémon (psychic types in particular) can learn human speech through their telepathic abilities, I have not heard of any cases where the opposite was true. Are you a human psychic? Do you have any other special powers? Can you use telekinesis to move objects as well? What kind of warning and advice did the Natu give you? Would you allow me to run a little test just to confirm that you are truly speaking to the Pokémon and not just pulling my leg?"

Harry blinked at the man; he had never seen a grown man get that excited; not even Mr. Weasley's fascination with muggles and muggle technology could compare to Professor Oak's current behavior. And Harry wasn't even certain just how much of Mr. Weasley's behavior had been fabricated to portray the kind man that Harry had once thought him to be; the redhead man had betrayed him right alongside of the rest of his family, after all. He then tipped his head to one side as he tried to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to actually answer the man's questions.

"I have _seen_ no harm in our future if you answer his questions, Harry," Luna stated as she began swaying in place as if dancing with the Pokémon in her arms. "The Nargles in this world can be trusted and my little Nargle would not lead us astray since she does still feel a measure of loyalty to you. You were her first true Master, after all."

"Nargles…? What are nargles?" Professor Oak inquired as Luna's comments pulled him out of his research mode.

"Nargle is my new Pokémon and since she isn't the only Nargle out there, more than one of her would be plural," Luna answered as she lifted the green bird Pokémon. She then crouched down to pat the bouncing Spoink at her feet a few pats on the head. "I haven't come up with a name for my other new friend yet, but I'm working on it."

"Fascinating; did you know that your Natu's coloring is quite unusual?"

"I wouldn't know; I'm blind."

"Is that why you are keeping your eyes closed?" Professor Oak asked with a slight frown. "Are the three of you traveling alone? Or is your guardian waiting for you back at the camp?"

"Oh no, I always _see_ better with my eyes closed and I had to pay careful attention to where I needed to go so I wouldn't bump into anything," Luna blithely replied with a dreamy smile as she opened her eye lids to reveal the milky blue irises beneath them. "We also weren't traveling alone; we will be traveling together once we set out. We will also have plenty of company with all of the Pokémon I have _seen_ traveling with us. And no, we don't have a guardian unless you count Harry. He's the best kind of guardian; he's our Guardian Angel."

"Luna," Harry huffed in mild embarrassment as a light blush colored his chilled cheeks.

"She is right though; you always went out of your way to protect us," Dudley interjected. "You saved me more than once even when I used to be a real berk to you."

"I set a python on you at the zoo once too," Harry muttered under his breath as he recalled that fateful trip to the zoo during the summer prior to his first year at Hogwarts.

"That was annoying but I probably deserved it after I'd knocked you down," Dudley snorted as he lightly socked Harry on the arm.

"Am I to understand that the three of you started your Pokémon Journey a few months early then?" Professor Oak inquired before the two boys could continue their reminiscing. "If I might ask, who gave you your Pokémon Trainer Licenses? They normally aren't handed out until late spring nor are they given to children under the age of ten; unless the three of you fudged your ages at the time you applied for your licenses."

"Licenses? We have to have a license to keep a Pokémon? Does that mean you're going to take ours from us since we don't have one? And what's a Pokémon Journey?" Dudley asked with more than a little concern as he dropped his hand down to the pocket holding the PokéBall containing his Klefki.

"Oh, goodness no; I would never attempt to take your Pokémon from you unless you were mistreating them. However, you are required by law to obtain a license to keep or raise Pokémon in addition to registering each Pokémon you acquire in order to prevent your Pokémon from being mistaken for a wild Pokémon. It also reduces the chances that an unscrupulous individual would try to claim your Pokémon. There are, of course, several different types of licenses available. Although, I find it very strange that the three of you have already acquired Pokémon companions if you don't have a license. Unless your Pokémon used to belong to your parents…?"

"I'm afraid that we can't answer any more questions right now," Luna stated in an uncharacteristically serious voice as she closed her eyes and turned to face Harry.

"Why ever not?" Professor Oak asked incredulously.

"Because if we stand here much longer, the sludgemudge infection that Harry picked up when he was sitting on the frozen road for so long while half dressed this morning is going to kill him."

As soon as Luna finished giving her dire pronouncement, a particularly violent sneeze erupted from Harry's mouth and nose. Immediately after the sneeze, Harry's head felt as if it had been filled with cotton while his nose instantly filled with mucus. He let out a soft groan that lacked any inflection as he immediately realized he was on the verge of coming down with a cold. Harry would have cursed himself for an idiot in frustration if he could have mustered the emotion necessary to feel frustrated in the first place.

Professor Oak had looked rather perplexed by Luna's claim right up until Harry sneezed and then the man jumped in surprise as he glanced between the three adults turned adolescents. It wasn't until that moment that he noticed that both Luna and Dudley were dressed far warmer than Harry; both blondes wearing the worse for wear robes they'd had on when they'd been captured by the Weasleys and Luna also wearing Harry's robes. All Harry had on was a thin pair of slacks, an old worn t-shirt, and the professor's fairly thin lab coat.

It didn't take the man more than two seconds to piece together enough clues (both verbal and visual) to come to the conclusion that the underdressed Harry had been out in the cold long enough to get himself sick. As soon as he did, Professor Oak strode forward and scooped Harry up into his arms and immediately headed back towards the road at a swift jog. Harry yelped in surprise the moment his feet left the ground without warning while the Litleo in his arms let out a single yowl of protest when Harry accidentally dropped the lion cub at the same time.

All three of Harry's Pokémon would then disappear in beams of red light one right after another as Luna recalled the trio using the PokéBalls that had been the pockets of his shortened robes. Harry held himself stiffly and barely dared to breathe as he tried to figure out why Professor Oak had picked him up and why the man was still carrying him. The last time he recalled someone carrying him had been when Hagrid had carried his body out of the Forbidden Forest while Harry was playing dead after being hit with Voldemort's Killing Curse.

That also happened to be the first time he ever recalled an adult carrying him.

He couldn't count how many times he'd been dragged around by both his former friends and the various adults that he'd known in his birth world. He supposed that he might have been carried during one of the many times that he'd ended up unconscious on one of his misadventures through the years but it was hard to count those times since he hadn't been awake in those cases. His thoughts were interrupted by a second sneeze at that point and Harry stopped caring about the fact that he was being carried by a stranger as he curled into the warmth the professor was radiating; his shrunken body shivering as he finally registered just how cold he felt.

Harry would drift in and out of consciousness for the rest of their journey before he passed out just as he felt himself being placed on a cushioned surface and covered up with several blankets.

* * *

**Translations/Definitions:**

Sludgemudge Infection – Luna-speak for catching pneumonia (or other potential chest congestion)

**Notes:**

Mythical Creatures – Luna's strange creatures will make the occasional rare appearance in future chapters but don't expect her to speak of them every single time she opens her mouth. In this story, I have decided that her made-up creatures and strange illnesses are the product of a lonely childhood, an active imagination, and a method that she and her father used to use to refer to her foresight in order to hide her ability from the world at large. I could also easily see Xeno using the sillier articles in Quibbler as a secret way to entertain and send messages to his daughter when she is not by his side; a secret that the two of them shared.

So, Luna will still use her made-up creatures and words (for things like diseases) in remembrance of her father; hence why she named her Natu Nargle instead of giving it a more normal nickname. Harry and Dudley will accept her silliness and even encourage it because that silliness is part of what makes Luna, Luna. I think her silliness will also draw the younger children they stumble across in the future to her because children, in general, love the idea of make-believe and fantasy.

Emotions – I have, for the purpose of this story, divided the emotions that will be seen/used throughout the story into three basic categories; positive, negative, and neutral. Harry will only be able to feel/express positive and neutral emotions but he can still think negative thoughts and remember negative memories; they just won't bleed over into his emotions like they normally would. So that means that Harry will not angst, rage, or become a new incarnation of Moody in this story.

For the record, those emotions that I will be without a doubt be labeling as neutral are; mild or pleased embarrassment, mild concern (since it will be his positive emotions that lead him to worry a bit when others get into trouble), boredom, disinterest, and mild disappointment. Those that are slightly less neutral than others (like disappointment he felt earlier in this chapter) will be very difficult for Harry to maintain; so the most he'll feel is a brief flash before it is gone.

Others may be added to the list in the future when I dig through synonyms to find usefully mild emotions that can be used in place of the more prominent negative ones. Oh, and I should point out that Harry is capable of missing those who have been lost even if he can't grieve for their deaths or absence.

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	4. Waking Confessions

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Three: Waking Confessions

_November 08, 2030  
Oak Residence, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

Over the course of the next seven days, Harry would spend most of his time asleep as his body fought off the nasty case of pneumonia that his cold had quickly developed into due to his less than perfect health at the time he'd caught the cold. If not for his magic, his condition would have been far worse; since his magic boosted his immune system. If he hadn't been exhausted from the journey through the Veil of Death, he would not have gotten sick in the first place but at the time his internal levels of magic had been too low and too busy healing his internal injuries to properly fight off the bug he'd picked up.

When the worst of his symptoms had finally passed, Harry would wake up to find himself in an unfamiliar room feeling rather wrung out and weak. He pushed the covers down and made an attempt to sit up so he could determine exactly where he was but ended up letting out a soft groan when his body refused to cooperate. Since that didn't work, he reached across his chest with the intention of rolling himself up onto his side to give himself enough leverage to sit up only for a fuzzy, round, pink egg shaped creature to press him back onto the bed.

"_Don't move, silly youngling; you were terribly sick and still need lots of rest so you can regain your strength,_" the creature admonished as she set about tucking him back beneath the covers once he'd stopped attempting to get up.

"_Who…?_" Harry weakly tried to demand only for a coughing fit to take hold of him.

The creature jumped in surprise to hear Harry speaking the Pokémon language before she shook itself, spread her little arms out to the side, and closed her eyes. A heartbeat later, Harry's eyes were drawn down to the Pokémon's stomach as an egg shaped object in a small pouch on the Pokémon's belly began glowing yellow. The Pokémon's eyes opened less than a minute later and lifted her arms skyward. At the same time, the glowing egg-thing rose up out of the pouch before it flew towards Harry's heart.

The moment the glowing egg touched Harry, he began to glow as a wave of pure warmth engulfed him. Within seconds of being engulfed warm energy, Harry's coughing immediately subsided and soon felt all of the minor aches and pains that he'd felt upon waking dissipate as well. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Pokémon was healing him and Harry felt both amazed and humbled that the creature would help him of her own accord. By the time the glow and warmth both faded, Harry felt far better than he had when he first woke up aside from the lingering exhaustion due to his still low magic levels.

Harry didn't even get a chance to thank the Pokémon before he drifted off to sleep once more.

The next time Harry woke up, he found himself in the same unfamiliar room and no sign of the pink Pokémon. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he had regained much of his strength after he'd slept again and he carefully pushed himself up so that he could search the room. The first thing he looked for were his glasses but he couldn't find them on the small nightstand that stood beside the bed. He then squinted his eyes in an attempt to bring the room into focus as he searched for his absent friends, his trio of Pokémon, or his clothes once he realized he was wearing borrowed pajamas.

He was just contemplating getting out of bed when he heard the soft squeak of a door opening. Harry turned towards the sound and easily located the blurry doorway as it swung inwards. He was briefly confused as to who had opened the door for several minutes, since he hadn't seen anyone step into the room, until he felt his covers being pulled towards the ground. As soon as he glanced downwards, Harry found himself staring into the dark eyes of a younger child with wild auburn hair wearing a pair of brown shorts and a blue shirt with red accents on the hems and sleeves.

The kid froze the moment he saw that Harry was awake before he immediately yelled, "Gramps! Gramps! The icky, sicky boy is awake!"

"I'm not icky," Harry automatically protested automatically as he pouted at the kid; the response automatic despite the fact that he was not in the least bit offended by the kid's declaration.

"Yes, you are! You were snotting up all over everything and hacking up gross stuff all the time. It was gross!"

"Does that mean you're a sissy because you were grossed out by a little snot?"

"No!" the boy abruptly denied as he scowled (read pouted) back at Harry. "And it wasn't just a little! It was like… hoards of snot."

"Hoards…?" Harry repeated in amusement.

"Yep! Tons and tons of snot."

"I see you've met my grandson," a familiar voice chortled as a vaguely familiar man wearing a white lab coat, a pink shirt, and pink slippers stepped up beside the bed and passed Harry his missing glasses. "How are you feeling, Harry? Are you having any trouble breathing?"

"I'm fine," Harry replied out of habit as he slipped on his glasses before he tilted his head back to study the man. He then tipped his head to one side in confusion as he tried to place where he'd seen the man before. After a few minutes he finally asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Professor Oak; we briefly met on the road eight days ago."

"Where am I?"

"In a guest bedroom at my house; I brought you here after you collapsed on me."

"Your grandson said something about me being sick…"

"Yes, you picked up a nasty chest congestion that progressed rather quickly into a full blown case of pneumonia. I had to actually call in a couple of favors and have Nurse Joy loan me her Chansey for a couple of days since the antibiotics that I had on hand did not seem to be helping and your young lady friend was most adamant that it would not be safe to take you to the hospital."

"Young lady…? Oh! Luna! Is she okay? And Dudley, he is okay too?"

"Easy, young man; they are both fine. They've been staying with a friend of mine," Professor Oak assured Harry as he prevented Harry from crawling out of the bed. The man then turned to his grandson and instructed, "Gary, please go ask your sister to warm up the chicken broth for our guest." Once the little boy had vanished from the room, Professor Oak turned back to Harry and asked, "Now, why don't you tell me how you are really feeling."

"I'm fine."

"Look, you and I both know 'fine' doesn't really tell me anything. You came very close to dying between the amount of blood you had lost, your injuries, and the pneumonia. So, please, I need to know if there are any lingering problems now so that I can take care of them before they prevent you from making a full recovery."

"I really am fine," Harry insisted half out of habit and half because he really felt fine.

"In that case, can you tell me exactly how it was you were injured? If someone attacked the three of you and left you for dead, I need to know so that I can alert the proper authorities."

"You will never find them."

"That is not the point; if there are people out there willing to harm children for whatever reason, then the police need to know so that they can warn people to be on the look out for them."

"No, there is no one to find," Harry corrected as he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs, and propped his cheek on his knee as he calmly met the professor's gaze. "They aren't in this world."

"What do you mean?"

Harry hesitated for a brief moment until he recalled the advice of the Natu that had been born from the Resurrection Stone. He then took a deep breath, held it for a count of ten, and released it slowly before he began to explain, "We, that is Luna, Dudley, and myself, were not born in this world. I don't know how much different our world was but I do know that we didn't have Pokémon there. Instead, we had magic and magical creatures. I was born as a wizard. Luna was too, only girls that were born with magic were called witches."

The twenty-turned-ten year old then delved into the history of Voldemort's first and second rise, what little he knew about his parents and their friends, his own personal history, and the trials he'd faced in school and after Voldemort had been vanquished once and for all. He only paused when a young girl about his age with long auburn hair who bore a passing resemblance to both the little boy and Professor Oak (who was introduced to him as Daisy Oak) brought him a warm bowl of chicken broth.

"Being transported to this world was not without its cost though; each of us was required to give up three things. We all gave up half of our age and any chance of ever going back to that world. The last thing we gave up was different for each of us. Luna gave up her sight, Dudley gave up his extra weight, and I gave up my negative emotions."

"Are you implying that you can't feel any emotions?"

"No, I can feel happy or excited and stuff like that; it's just the negative emotions like fear, anger, or mistrust that I can't feel any more. It's why I was so willing to lead you back to the others when you first found me even though you were a perfect stranger. It's also why I didn't panic when I spoke to the Pokémon in front of you despite the memories I have of being shunned and hated for being different in the past."

"Yes, you should have been far more concerned about that since it is an ability that some people would kill to have or control," Professor Oak murmured as he stroked his chin.

"What is going to happen to me and the others now?" Harry asked as he felt a mild spike of concern for their future in this strange new world. "And how can I repay you for all the trouble you went through taking care of me? We have some money we could give you but it's not much…"

"Calm down… er, rather slow down," Professor Oak instructed (Harry hadn't been in a panic as he asked his questions, after all, and therefore there was no reason for him to 'calm' down). "First, the three of you are welcome to stay in Pallet Town with me and my family for as long as you need but most especially for the coming winter since you will need to apply for a Pokémon License before you wander off to the explore the world and official registration won't start until next spring."

"You mentioned licenses before but why do we have to have one?"

"Well, aside from it being against the law to keep, train, or raise Pokémon without a proper license, it is necessary to register any and all Pokémon you catch under your license number in order to prevent unscrupulous individuals from claiming that you are poaching wild Pokémon or that you stole your Pokémon from another Trainer. On top of that, the various licenses grant their holders a number of privileges."

"For example, a Trainer's License allows you to register with the Pokémon League and allows you and your Pokémon to participate in the various Pokémon League Challenges that takes place every year; such as the Battle Tournament, Gym Battles, and Pokémon Contests. A Trainer's License will also allow you to use the services of a Pokémon Center at no cost to you and grant you access to the Pokémon Storage System to hold the extra Pokémon you catch since Trainers are only able to carry up to six Pokémon with them."

"A few other types of licenses are a Breeder's License, Researcher's License, a Business License, and a Construction License and each of those come with their own special privileges and a few shared ones – such as all licenses allowing you to use the Pokémon Centers free of charge. It is even possible to hold multiple licenses; I, myself, have both a Researcher's License and a Trainer's License. On top of that, I am registered with the Indigo League as an advisor, a licensed distributor of starter Pokémon in the Kanto Region, and an official License Registrar."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Harry murmured as he tried to process the rather extensive information dump. He then blinked his eyes a couple of times before he asked, "What happens to us while we're waiting for spring to arrive so we can apply for a proper license? And you didn't say how I could pay you back."

"I believe it would be best if you spend the winter learning about this world while you and your friends decide what you will do once spring arrives. We can start with basic geography, local and world history, and the various laws you will need to be aware of in order to stay out of trouble. I can also give you supplemental lessons on all things Pokémon to cover anything that your little Lion Cub Pokémon might have left out of his explanations."

"As for paying me back…?" Professor Oak drawled in a contemplative tone. "There is really no need for you to do so; I would have helped any one in need." Harry opened his mouth to immediately protest only for Professor Oak to cut him off before he could speak up. "However, if you are determined to repay me out of a misplaced sense of obligation, then I would be most appreciative if you would be willing to help me with my research."

"Doing what?" Harry cautiously asked as the word research (which fell into the same category as the word experiment) rang alarm bells in the back of his mind even if he felt no fear.

"Mostly translating for the various Pokémon that I keep and raise," Professor Oak replied in an eager tone. "I wish to better understand Pokémon and their interactions with each other and with humans in order to help others take better care of their partners. I would also appreciate your help in documenting the various species of Pokémon found throughout the various regions in the world. It has been my dream to catalog every single Pokémon in existence so that I can create the ultimate PokéDex to help new trainers learn about the different Pokémon that they encounter."

"That doesn't sound as bad as I thought it might," Harry allowed as any concern (limited though it was) he might have felt over the possibility of being experimented on faded away. "For a moment there, I couldn't help but think you might cut me or my Pokémon open to see what makes us tick or lock us in a cage and feed us through a cat-flap while you did all sorts of horrible experiments on us."

"Never! I would never resort to such barbaric methods!"

"Well, I had to be sure since I can't bring myself to be suspicious of you and I've had enough bad experiences with people betraying me. But like I said, your idea of research didn't sound all that bad. You aren't going to tell any one else that I can speak to the Pokémon, will you?"

"No, no I would not; at least, not without your permission. There are a handful of my colleagues that would welcome your help with their research and that would be one way to earn a little pocket money on the side as well as the latest gadgets and gear. I also have a couple of aides working for me that it might be best to warn so they know not to speak of your ability to anyone else; since they will inevitably see or hear you speaking to the Pokémon. I also trust both my colleagues and my aides not to abuse you, your Pokémon, or your gift and I can guarantee that they won't try to profit from your gift."

"Oh, okay."

"Does that mean you're willing to help me with my research?" Professor Oak inquired with obvious anticipation.

"Yeah, I don't mind. Learning more about the Pokémon sounds kind of interesting and helpful since we're stuck in this world now."

"There are many myths and legends surrounding what we call the Legendary Pokémon; Pokémon with frightening and awe inspiring powers. One of them might be able to send you back, if you truly wish to return to your former world."

"No, there's nothing for us to go back to and we willing gave up any chance of returning to that world in exchange for having our deepest desire fulfilled."

"And just what was your deepest desire, young man?" Professor Oak asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"To end the suffering that my friends had endured simply because they were my friends and a chance for them to find the happiness they deserve."

"Ho-oh, bless my soul; you are a remarkably unselfish young man and I believe it will be both a joy and a privilege to work with you."

Harry flushed in response to the sincere words of praise as he murmured a bashful, "Thanks."

"Now that that's settled, is there anything else you need?"

"Er, I really need to use the bathroom. And if you don't mind, I think I need a shower too. Do you know where my old clothes are?"

"Daisy washed and mended your things for you while you were recovering. I will have her fetch them for you while you answer the call of nature and take your shower; you'll find the bathroom down the hall to your left. Are you feeling up to walking there on your own or would you like me to help you?"

"I'll be fine, I think, Professor. I feel much better than I did the first time I woke up," Harry insisted as he gingerly slipped off the bed and stood up for the first time in a week; his legs feeling like jelly but able to bear his weight easily enough.

"Alright, then; I will leave you to it while I go track down my granddaughter."

It would take Harry nearly ten minutes to reach the bathroom as his muscles were slowly reacquainted with the motions of walking. He felt slightly winded by the time he was inside the bathroom but aside from that he didn't feel too bad. He then took his time emptying his bladder while the water heated up before he climbed into the bathtub and stood beneath the glorious spray of hot water. A sigh of pure pleasure escaped his lips as the heat washed away the little aches and pains he'd picked up during the short walk to the bathroom in addition to the residue of stale sweat and dirt that clung to his skin despite someone washing him while he'd been out of it.

Once he was finished cleaning himself, Harry felt halfway human and hungry enough to eat a horse; the broth he'd eaten earlier had done little more than wake his stomach up enough to realize it hadn't been fed in a week. He'd just finished drying himself off when there was a knock on the door and he hurriedly wrapped the towel around his waist and shoved his glasses into place before he hesitantly opened the door and peered out.

"I brought your clothes," Daisy announced with a light blush the moment she saw his bare chest.

"Er, thanks," Harry replied as his face began turning pink as well as he reached out to accept the bundle of clothes that the girl was carrying and nearly dropped the towel maintaining his modesty. "And thanks for cleaning and fixing them."

"You're welcome," Daisy replied with a smile. "When you're finished getting dressed, your two friends are waiting downstairs for you."

"Thanks… I'll be right out."

"Okay," Daisy acknowledged before she backed away from the door before turning and skipping down the hall.

Harry watched her go for a brief moment before he ducked back inside the bathroom and hurriedly pulled on his clothes so that he could see Luna, Dudley, and his Pokémon. Thinking of his Pokémon reminded Harry of the fact that he'd not actually had a chance to come up with a name for the three of them. And while he wasn't sure that the Misdreavus cared one way or the other, both the Litleo and the Absol had asked for names.

As he ran his fingers through his wet hair in an effort to reduce the number of knots before it dried, Harry let out a soft snort when he realized that the former cloak had named herself the moment she burst free of her PokéBall that first time; she was trouble with a capital 'T'. Naming the Litleo would be fairly easy as well since the little lion cub embodied all things Gryffindor; he was brave, bold, fiery, and reckless and so Harry figured the name Gryffin would suit him well. Thinking of a name for Absol though was proving to be rather difficult though.

After drawing a complete blank, Harry decided that he'd figure something out once he'd spent more time around the Disaster Pokémon.

In the mean time, he had some catching up to do with Luna and Dudley.

The trip down the short flight of stairs leading to the ground floor was nearly Harry's undoing. He probably would have ended up tumbling down the second half of the staircase and kissing the floor if not for Professor Oak snagging hold of him at the last second and carrying him the rest of the way down. Harry could have fried an egg on his face due to how flushed he was as a result of his near plunge and subsequent escort down the stairs. The embarrassment he felt was soon forgotten the moment Luna danced up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I couldn't _see_ you any more after we got here and I was so scared that I'd never see you again until I finally _saw_ that you were awake again."

"I'm sorry I scared you by being dumb enough to get myself sick," Harry replied as he returned Luna's hug and rocked her a bit. "I'll try to tone down my Gryffindorish tendencies from now on so you won't have to worry about me."

"Yeah, good luck with that mate; we both know trouble loves you too much to leave you alone," Dudley quipped as he walked up and lightly slapped Harry on the back.

"Thanks for the reminder, Dudders," Harry snarked back with a snort of amusement.

"It's the truth, cousin; and you know it is. All joking aside, I'm glad you're feeling better now."

"Me too; I don't think I'm going to be in a hurry to get sick again after that either."

"You better not; you were all icky gross when you were hacking up hoards of snot. I had to share a room with Ash for three whole days too! All because Gramps didn't want me to catch your cooties. It was terrible," Gary Oak, Professor Oak's five year old grandson, complained as he popped up from over the back of the couch to give Harry the stink eye.

Harry couldn't help but burst into laughter in response to little Gary's complaints; the kid was just too cute! Of course, he probably wouldn't have found him any where near as cute if he stopped to note the similarities that the boy had to both a young Draco Malfoy and Dudley during his first childhood. He didn't bother comparing the kid to other people he'd known in the past though; those memories currently buried in the back of his mind as he focused on the chance he'd been given to be Just Harry for once.

The green-eyed boy soon ended up on the couch tucked between Luna and Dudley as the three of them chatted quietly about their plans. Harry hesitantly let them both know that he'd told Professor Oak the truth about how they ended up in the meadow and his agreement to help the Professor with his research. Luna was quick to assure him that he'd done the right thing according to what she could _see_. The two blondes were then quick to fill Harry in on everything that they'd learned since they arrived in Pallet Town while Professor Oak's grandchildren listened.

Once their discussion wound down, Luna pulled three familiar PokéBalls from her pocket and passed them to Harry as she breezily stated, "I held on to these three for you while you were sick; I _saw_ that it was best that they stayed in their little houses until you could keep them out of trouble."

"Thank you, Luna," Harry replied as he automatically pressed the button on the PokéBall that he knew held the Litleo in order to release the little lion cub.

Gary's little eyes grew really round with excitement the moment he realized that Harry was going to release a Pokémon in the house. Even his sister Daisy looked rather excited to see what kind of Pokémon would appear as she moved up to sit on the edge of her seat. Harry hid a grin at their behavior even as he pressed the button a second time. Two seconds later, the Litleo appeared in a beam of red light. The little lion cub immediately stretched and shook himself out before he yawned loudly and glanced about the room in curiosity.

"Oh, what an adorable Pokémon!" Daisy exclaimed as she bounced out of her seat and immediately planted herself on the floor beside the Litleo.

"I've never seen one of those in Gramps' lab; what is it?" Gary asked a split second later.

"_He_ is a Litleo; the Lion Cub Pokémon," Harry replied; placing emphasis on the Litleo's gender because he didn't think the lion cub would appreciated being referred to as an 'it'; he knew he wouldn't if he had been in the cub's place.

The Litleo perked up the moment he heard Harry's voice before he spun around and pounced on the green-eyed man turned boy as he cried, "_Master! Where have you been? Why didn't you let me out sooner? Why do you smell so weak?_"

"_I was sick and didn't properly wake up until today,_" Harry automatically replied as his brought his hands up to scratch the Litleo behind both ears at the same time; his use of Pokémon speech surprising the two siblings. "_And Luna was watching over you for me until now. It didn't hurt you to stay in the PokéBall without food and water for so long, did it?_"

"_No, the technology in the PokéBalls places us in a form of stasis that lets our bodies rest while are minds are conscious and aware enough to monitor the outside world so long as our PokéBalls are in physical contact with our trainer._"

"_Oh, that's good._"

"Are you really speaking in Pokémon or are you just mimicking him?" Daisy inquired as she climbed to her feet and moved to get a closer look at the Litleo.

"Can I pet him?" Gary demanded on the heels of his sister's question as he scrambled around his sister and half stretched his hands out towards the Litleo.

"_Who are they, master?_"

"_They are Daisy and Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandchildren. Gary would like to pet you._"

"Yes, Harry is a Pokémon Speaker; he can speak to and understand all Pokémon," Luna replied dreamily as she smiled at Daisy while Harry was answering the lion cub.

"Are you sure you should be telling just anyone about that?" Dudley asked in some concern.

"_I don't mind, so long as he doesn't pull my tail,_" the Litleo replied as he dropped his paws down from Harry's shoulders to he could turn around to sniff at Gary's outstretched hand.

"He said he doesn't mind if you pet him; just don't pull his tail," Harry informed Gary before he turned to address Dudley. "It's fine, Dudley; they would have figured it out anyway since we'll be staying here until next spring and I did promise to help Professor Oak with his research by acting as a translator for the Pokémon he is studying."

"And I _see_ no harm in these two knowing about Harry's gift," Luna added as she briefly closed her eyes.

"His fur is so soft," Gary murmured in a fascinated tone as he gently brushed his fingers down the Litleo's back. "Does he have a name? Or do you just call him Litleo?"

"I was thinking about naming him Gryffin," Harry answered absently as he fiddled with the PokéBalls holding Absol and Misdreavus.

"_Gryffin?_" the Litleo parroted back as he craned his head around to meet Harry's gaze.

"_Do you like it?_"

"_I do, master,_" the newly named Gryffin agreed as he twisted around to lick Harry's face.

"_I'm glad but could you please call not call me master?_"

"_Why? It is what you are._"

"_I don't think I like being called master because I'd much rather be your partner._"

"_Then what should I call you?_"

"_You can call me Harry, just Harry._"

"_Very well, Harry,_" Gryffin agreed as he gave Harry's chin one last lick before he returned his attention to the five year old that was still petting him.

"What other Pokémon do you have?" Gary asked as his eyes briefly shot to the two black PokéBalls that were currently sitting in Harry's lap. "Will you let them out too?"

"A female Misdreavus that I am going to name Trouble and a male Absol who I haven't thought up an appropriate name for yet," Harry replied as he tucked the two black PokéBalls into his pocket so he wouldn't lose them. "And no, I'm not going to let them out right now. Trouble tends to cause too much trouble when she's out and the Absol is a little too big to let loose in a new place without any warning."

"You seriously named the ghost Pokémon trouble?" Dudley asked incredulously.

"Well, she is trouble with a capital 'T'," Harry quipped back in response; the silly pun setting both Luna and Daisy to giggling.

"Great; that means your Trouble is going to follow me no matter where we go," Dudley deadpanned in return which drew more laughter from the girls and Harry.

"You guys are so weird," Gary proclaimed as he gave Gryffin one last pat before he took off.

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	5. Geography & a Splash of Family History

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Four: Geography and a Splash of Family History

_November 10, 2030  
Oak Residence, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

After another two days of rest, Harry set foot outside for the first time in over a week and he took a deep breath of the clean, faintly salty air before exhaling a small cloud of steam from his mouth. He then took in his first look at Pallet Town; a small village made up of no more than two dozen houses and Professor Oak's Laboratory. The Lab sat off to one side of the houses amongst the hills and just a bare hop, skip and a jump from the forest that surrounded most of the village. Just beyond the lab, Harry could just make out a bit of sunlight dancing off the waves of a small ocean bay; the source of the faint salty tang he could almost taste in the air.

All of the houses were scattered throughout the small valley that sat at the base of the hills and situated off to either side of the road that cut through the small village with the Oaks' house being the closest one to the laboratory. Most of the houses were two stories high, with large yards, and vibrant flower beds; though there was one house that was only a single story that was tucked up right against the forest. Those who lived in the area either worked as aides for Professor Oak, farmed their land, or were retired and enjoying the peace and quiet of Pallet Town.

That included Delia Ketchum and her five year old son, Ash. Ms. Ketchum was a work at home mother who was a close friend of Professor Oak's (going so far as to deliver home cooked meals from time to time just so she could check on the three Oaks). No mention was ever made of Ash's father for some reason and Harry wasn't crass enough to ask Ms. Ketchum or Ash about him. No mention was ever made of Daisy and Gary's parents either but there were pictures of a couple that bore a great resemblance to the two siblings around the Oak home whereas he'd not seen a single picture of Ash's father in the Ketchum residence.

All in all, Pallet Town was a nice, peaceful village and the people were rather friendly.

The only problem was that it lacked any stores or other businesses. Harry thought it was rather odd for a town to lack even a grocery store but he supposed there must be another, larger town close enough for them to visit whenever they needed something they couldn't produce themselves. He would later learn that Professor Oak's aides performed weekly supply runs via private helicopter (licensed to Oak's Laboratory) since less than half of the families living in the area owned a car. In exchange for that service, the villagers gladly shared a portion of their harvests with the Lab.

Brief inspection of his surroundings finished, Harry dropped his attention to the two black PokéBalls in hand. He'd been putting off releasing his final two Pokémon since he didn't want them to make a mess in the house. He couldn't ignore them forever though or they would get upset with him. Letting out a soft sigh, Harry released Trouble from her PokéBall first and the ghost Pokémon came out screaming as she swooped down at him. Harry chuckled at her antics as she briefly reminded him of Peeves, the poltergeist from Hogwarts.

"_No fair! You're not scared!_" Trouble complained as she stopped to hover in front of Harry's face.

"_I am no longer able to feel fear,_" Harry replied with a shrug. "_Why are you always trying to scare everyone?_"

"_It's fun and my new form absorbs fear to nourish me and power my stronger attacks._"

"_So, you're like a dementor now?_"

"_No, I cause no harm when I absorb a being's fear and I take no more than I need. I will also never feel the need to consume the souls of my targets._"

"_Oh, I guess that doesn't sound so bad but um… maybe you could focus on pranking or scaring the wild Pokémon instead of Dudley? He's liable to punch you again if you keep bothering him, Trouble._"

"_I can't scare any humans…? Human fear is so much tastier than the fear of other Pokémon,_" Trouble whined as she flipped upside down to pout at Harry.

"_Well, I'm sure I'll run into bullies and other troublesome people that I'd be more than happy to let you scare; just don't scare my friends. Or the people in this town because I don't want them to chase us off. And in the mean time, there should be plenty of wild Pokémon in the forest and in the long grass for you to scare._"

"_Okay…_" Trouble agreed readily enough as she twirled around so she was right side up before she flew around Harry several times before cuddling close to him. "_Does that mean you will let me stay out now?_"

"_Yeah, I guess, it does._"

Trouble giggled mischievously before she disappeared and Harry briefly wondered if he shouldn't have been a little less hasty to agree. He then shrugged his shoulders; at least if she was out terrorizing wild Pokémon, then she wouldn't be picking on Dudley all the time. Harry then let out a sigh as he eyed the final occupied PokéBall in his hand. After a brief hesitation, he hit the button twice to release the Absol from inside of the black ball.

"_You are afraid of me,_" the Absol stated bluntly the moment he finished materializing.

"_No, I am incapable of feeling fear and it is that lack of fear that prompts me to use caution when dealing with powerful artifacts or in your case, beings,_" Harry calmly countered as he stuffed the now empty PokéBall into his pocket before meeting the creature's sapphire gaze. "_I also have no wish to see you shunned or harmed by people simply because of the superstitions that revolve around the species of Pokémon that you were turned into when we were brought to this world. People are seldom kind to things they fear or don't understand._"

The large Pokémon let out an exasperated huff before he walked up and brushed himself against Harry like a giant cat; making the creature seem even more feline-like. Harry hesitated for a split second before he reached out and buried both hands in the Absol's yellow tinted white fur and a small, lopsided grin formed on Harry's face when the Pokémon let out a rumbling purr. Unlike Gryffin's soft kitten-like fur, the Absol's coat was made up of stiff, course hairs with a thick undercoat of fuzz that was even softer than Gryffin's fur and the contrast between the outer and inner coat was kind of ticklish.

"_Have you found my name yet, human?_"

"_No, I was sick for a while and since I've woken up I've had hard time trying to find an appropriate name. Why do you keep calling me human? My name is Harry._"

"_Human is what you are and human is what I will call you by your name until you have given me a name._"

"_In that case, how about the name Hallow or Elder?_"

"_No,_" the Absol refused without even thinking about it. "_It would be demeaning to be named after my former self._"

"_What kind of name did you want me to give you then?_"

"_I wish for a name that holds fondness in your heart so that you will cherish me as much as you cherish the Pokémon your other wand became. I do not wish to be discarded or taken for granted in this life as I often was in my last life._"

Moved by his Absol's words, Harry flung his arms around the large Pokémon's neck and hugged him. The Absol tensed under the compassionate assault before he slowly relaxed in Harry's arms and began purring once more. If there was one emotion that Harry could intimately understand (despite no longer being able to feel it himself) it was the fear of being unwanted and unloved. He had spent his first childhood struggling beneath the weight of aching loneliness that was life at the Dursleys and he would not wish such an existence on anyone; not even those who betrayed him.

Unseen by boy and Pokémon, a misty-eyed and smiling Professor Oak snapped several photos of the touching scene.

"_I can't name you Padfoot because you aren't childish enough and I can't name you Neville because I think Luna wishes to name one of her Pokémon after our missing friend to honor his sacrifice. The color of your coat reminds me of the moon though, and like Remus, your species has been misunderstood and shunned for things outside of your control. And while you're not a wolf, I think you'd make a wonderful Moony. He was a protector and a teacher and I miss him almost as much as I miss my godfather._"

"_I would be honored to bear the name of a man that you hold as a favorite uncle in your memories, Harry,_" the newly named Moony declared with a rumbling purr as he pressed his cold nose to Harry's neck.

After a few minutes, Harry pulled back to rub Moony between the eyes, marveling at the silky smooth texture of the Absol's copper colored skin as he asked, "_Did you wish to remain free of your PokéBall too?_"

"_I would like a chance to stretch my legs and explore the surroundings before I am recalled,_" Moony admitted as he pushed his face into Harry's hand; the large Pokémon soaking up the attention Harry was lavishing on him.

"_Then I will leave you out for now. Professor Oak might even allow you to come into the house if you promise to be careful not to knock things over with your tail. I will ask him later, after you've had your fill of exploring the town._"

"_I will return to this place by sunset,_" Moony promised as he pressed his nose to Harry's briefly before he bounded off in the direction of the woods.

Harry watched Moony disappear into the shadows of the forest before he let out a soft sigh and tucked his hands into his pockets and wandered back in the direction of Professor Oak's house now that he'd finished dealing with two of the former Deathly Hallows. He had just reached the front door of the house when the door was opened from the other side by Daisy.

"Oh, hi, Gramps just sent me to fetch you," Daisy stated with a slight blush as she opened the door wide enough for Harry to step into the house. "He asked me to start teaching you and your friends Kanto's history and geography."

"You don't mind teaching us, do you?" Harry asked out of habit; his aunt and uncle's oft repeated appellation that he was nothing but a burden still hanging over him to this day. "I wouldn't want to trouble you needlessly…"

"It's no trouble," Daisy assured him as she latched onto his wrist and gently tugged him into the house after he'd frozen in mid-step. "You're actually helping me; Gramps said I had to prove that I was responsible before he'd allow me to apply for my Trainer's License. Personally, I think he's just reluctant to let me leave because he's so scared he's going to lose me too. That, and I am the spitting image of my mother and Gramps misses her and my father dearly."

"Your mother was Professor Oak's daughter?" Harry inquired tentatively, the green-eyed boy hesitant to bring up what could be a rather touchy topic.

"No, she was his daughter-in-law; my father was Gramps' son. Mother was very close to Gramps though; she helped him with his research."

"Oh, what happened to her? If you don't mind me asking?"

"My parents died in a car crash during a particularly harsh snow storm three years ago when their car slid off the side of the mountain on their way back from the summit of Mt. Hideaway; they had been researching Rock Pokémon up there for Gramps," Daisy answered with a little sniffle.

Harry could empathize with her loss and instead of offering empty platitudes or awkward condolences, he offered up a piece of his own painful past as he quietly stated, "I never knew my parents; they were murdered when I was still just a baby. I miss them I suppose but I really miss my godfather and my Uncle Moony. I saw my godfather killed right in front of me by his own cousin…"

Harry paused for a moment as he recalled that Sirius had fallen through the Veil and that there was a chance that he too had ended up in this world. He then set that thought aside until he could give it the proper attention it deserved before he finished what he was saying.

"…or rather I saw him vanish right in front of me and was told that he died while Uncle Moony and his wife were killed trying to protect the boarding school I used to go to when terrorists attacked it when the term was still in session. A lot of other people I knew died during that attack as well; including a few of the older children."

"How terrible!"

"It was," Harry softly agreed as he recalled the exact moment that he had learned that Remus and Tonks had died during the attack. "The defenders that had fallen were hailed as heroes but that didn't make their losses hurt any less. I lost count of the number of funerals I attended afterwards. Things were never the same after that. It's part of the reason why Dudley, Luna, and I ended up here. This is our chance for a fresh start." Harry paused as he let out a soft laugh. "Only I had to go and mess things up right from the start by getting sick the moment we arrived."

"That should teach you to not go wandering off all on your own," Luna sing-sang at that moment.

"Yes, Luna dear," Harry sighed with the corners of his mouth twitched upwards in an almost smile.

"Luna dear…? Is she your girlfriend then?" Daisy asked curiously as she glanced between the two of them several times.

"No, Luna is my dear, dearest friend and the sister of my heart," Harry corrected as he dropped down on the floor at Luna's feet only to be tackled by Gryffin two seconds later.

"My future lies with another," Luna mysteriously added as she set Nargle the Natu on Harry's head the moment he sat back up and settled Gryffin on his lap. "Now, do be a dear, Harry, and don't move; Nargle needs practice reading the future and your aura is stronger than mine."

Daisy stared at Harry for a long minute as she tried to wrap her head around the silliness that was the two magicals before she shook her head and cleared off the coffee table. She then picked up what looked like a thick pamphlet that she unfolded to reveal a detailed map that she promptly spread out over the coffee table.

"This is a map of the Kanto Region and we are currently here, in Pallet Town," Daisy stated as she tapped one of the smaller dots on the map. "Pallet town was first founded in the late sixteen hundreds as a logging town for the once thriving empire of Pokémopolis. Over time, Pallet Town switched from logging to farming as the forests were thinned out and the population of Pokémopolis began swelling. The Pokémopolis Empire would thrive until the mid-seventeen hundreds when the entire empire collapsed overnight for unknown reasons and their capital city, Pokémopolis, was buried during a series of earthquakes."

"More than three-quarters of the original Pallet Town was lost to the sea at the same time. The survivors of the floods would continue to farm the land until the early eighteen-twenties when famine drove all but a handful of families from the area. The town would continue to decline throughout the rest of the eighteen hundreds and the forests would reclaim much of the farm land that had been abandoned. By the start of the twentieth century, there were only three families remaining that can trace their roots back to the original settlers of Pallet Town; the Oaks, the Okidos, and the Whites."

"Within three generations, Pallet Town would be reduced to a single family; the Oaks. Both the Okidos and the Whites had left in order to seek their fortunes elsewhere and sold their land to the Oak Family before moving on. By the year nineteen-eighty-four, Pallet Town had been reduced to a population of one; Samuel Oak. Gramps would leave Pallet Town after burying his parents alongside his ancestors with the help of his father's Eevee and travel the world first as a Pokémon Trainer (after lying about his age on his Trainer's License application) and later as a Pokémon Professor."

"Gramps would not return to Pallet Town until the year nineteen-ninety-four when he returned with his new wife to settle down and start a family. My father would be born a year later. My grandmother would then die in childbirth along with their second child due to a snowstorm blocking the roads four years later. Gramps would continue his Pokémon Research and his growing fame drew several like-minded individuals and small families to Pallet Town. By the time my father turned ten and left Pallet Town to start his own Pokémon Journey, Gramps had built himself a Research Center here in Pallet Town."

"It was that Research Center that drew my mother and her best friend Delia Ketchum to Pallet Town in twenty-fourteen at the tender age of sixteen; when they both turned up looking for a job at Gramps' Research Center. My father would return to Pallet Town at about the same time after he suffered his sixth consecutive defeat at Indigo Plateau. Over the next six years, my parents and Auntie Delia would dedicate their time to helping Gramps with his research and making improvements to the facilities at the Research Center."

"My parents would fall in love during that time, marry in the fall of twenty-eighteen, and my mother would give birth to me in May of twenty-twenty. Gary, and Ash, would be born five years later and then mom and dad died three years ago. Gramps has been taking care of us ever since. Or rather, Auntie Delia has been taking care of us and Gramps ever since. On top of that, Auntie Delia still handles all of the financial matters for Gramps' Research Lab."

"This town has a far richer history than one would expect of such a small town," Luna mused thoughtfully once Daisy had finished giving the town and her family's personal history. "And I have _seen_ that this town will grow further during the next ten years; though it will remain very a much a small town. Our presence will draw some attention here but in the end it will be another who will make this town famous even beyond your grandfather's current fame."

"Um…" Daisy replied in a long, drawn out hum of confusion.

"Like me, Luna has a unique gift; she is a seer," Harry explained as he carefully lifted Nargle down off his head in order to stretch out the cramped muscles in his neck due to how long he'd been holding still with the bird Pokémon perched on his head.

"You mean like a fortune teller?"

"Yes and no," Luna answered dreamily. "I do not read fortunes in tea leaves, palms, or crystal balls. What I _see_ are waking visions that show me possibilities and probabilities. The farther I _see_ into the future, the less certain it is that what I _see_ will come true. The only exceptions are when I _see_ my own future or when I _seek out_ Harry's future because I _see_ my own path clearest and Harry's entire life has been touched by Fate."

"Cursed, more like it," Harry groused under his breath with an undertone of dissatisfaction.

"Blessed," Luna corrected sternly as she lightly bopped him on the head with her fist before she reclaimed Nargle. "It was not Fate that cursed your life; that was done entirely by human hands and greed."

"If you say so," Harry magnanimously agreed for the sake of avoiding a philosophical argument with the petite seer that he knew he wouldn't win.

"I do."

"So, when you said that Pallet Town would grow…? That was only a possibility?" Daisy inquired a little sadly once Luna had finished correcting Harry.

"Oh, no; that was a certainty. Now that Harry has formed a loose bond with your grandfather due to the kindnesses that your grandfather has freely and sincerely bestowed upon him, his future is tied to Pallet Town and therefore I know that Pallet Town will flourish. I am just not certain who it is that will be the most responsible for this town's future fame and prosperity above and beyond what it earns through Harry's research with your grandfather."

"Oh, okay, I think," Daisy murmured; though Harry could still hear the underlying confusion and uncertainty in her voice.

"You don't have to worry about it, Daisy; the meaning behind Luna's words will become clearer in time," Harry assured the girl before his stomach gave a loud growl that chased Gryffin off of his lap.

"Thank you," Daisy replied with a smile of relief before she laughed. "And I guess your stomach is telling us it's time for a lunch break."

"I never thought I'd see the day where you ate more than me and I could tell time by the rumbles of your stomach, cousin," Dudley quipped teasingly as the four of them climbed to their feet and stretched out stiff muscles from sitting in one place for so long.

"I'm starting to wonder if I might have swallowed some beast or maybe ended up with a bottomless pit in my stomach somehow," Harry muttered as he poked at his stomach. "I don't ever remember being so hungry all the time before I woke up the other day."

"The Pokémon that healed you, healed the damage that your body had suffered through at the hands of your relatives and your earlier misadventures," Luna stated in dreamy tone that sounded distinctly sad. "The only thing the Pokémon could not erase, were the physical scars you bear that were inflicted by dark magic or magical creatures."

At her words, Harry's eyes automatically dropped to the back of his right hand where the words 'I must not tell lies' were still faintly etched into the skin. He also knew he still had a faint lightning bolt scar on his forehead, the fang-mark where he'd been bitten by the basilisk, the faded gouges on the back of his left shoulder from the Hungarian Horntail's spiked tail, the fang marks on his left knee from the acromantula in the maze, and several thin lines on his torso from dark curses that hit him during the Battle of Hogwarts and the fight against the Weasleys at Grimmauld Place.

He'd seen them in the mirror a handful of times and felt them beneath his fingertips each time he took a shower. They were no where near as prominent as they had been when he had first received them but they were still there. They were also confirmation that Harry had not just dreamed his life as Harry Potter the Wizard and in some cases, proof that he had survived and surmounted impossible odds. Such as defeating the basilisk at age twelve or surviving the Tri-wizard Tournament at Fourteen. And some of them were testimony of the cruelties that others were capable of committing on children; like the scars on the back of his hand.

That doesn't even touch on the mental and emotional scars he'd gained during his first lifetime.

The old Harry would have fallen to brooding darkly at this point but an inability to feel negative emotions drastically reduced the effectiveness of dwelling on terrible memories. Harry found he didn't mind being unable to brood properly and after sinking into the past for a brief moment, he shoved his old memories out of his mind. He was not Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, in this world. Here he was just Harry, an unremarkable Pokémon Trainer with the rare ability to speak and understand the language of Pokémon.

He could live with that.

In the mean time, his stomach was demanding food and he hurried to catch up to the others so that he could help Daisy fix them all sandwiches for lunch. Despite Daisy's protests that he didn't need to help, Harry insisted; the idea of sitting and making another wait on him hand and foot abhorrent to his inner adult. Dudley gave a hand as well, the slightly taller boy fetching plates, drinks, and some fruit to go with the sandwiches while Luna, Nargle, and Gryffin entertained an impatient Gary (who had appeared the moment they'd entered the kitchen) in order to keep him from whining.

Over the light meal, Daisy would regale the trio with anecdotes about the various wild Pokémon that her grandfather had encountered in the area. Apparently, Professor Oak had a tendency to get himself into sticky situations when he was in what she called his 'research mode'. He was also somewhat forgetful at times and would go without food or sleep for days if someone wasn't there to remind him to eat and sleep; a role that both Daisy and Ms. Ketchum often performed for the man.

After they finished eating, the five of them moved back into the living room to continue their lessons; this time focusing on Pallet Town's closest neighbor; Viridian City.

The next four days would proceed in much the same fashion; with Daisy covering the history of two or three of Kanto's more prominent cities and towns each day. She even added in a few facts about some of the lesser known villages that were gateways to important landmarks or the home of famous individuals. Harry soon grew to enjoy the history lessons far more than he'd ever enjoyed learning about the Goblin Rebellions or the Giant Wars in History of Magic classes at Hogwarts. Of course, it helped that Daisy was far livelier than Binns had been even when he had been alive (or so he imagined).

It also quickly became apparent that Daisy loved Pokémon and that Pokémon loved Daisy; the trio's six Pokémon often gravitated towards the ten year old once they began to spend less time in their PokéBalls. It quickly became common place for Daisy to sit and groom a different Pokémon each time they sat down for another lesson. Her neighbors would even bring her their Pokémon when their Pokémon were feeling a little gloomy and the Pokémon would inevitably leave feeling just a little happier when they were picked up an hour or two later by their partners.

Harry was always very careful not to talk to the Pokémon while the other townsfolk were present; the only exception being the Ketchum family. Dudley, surprisingly enough, had been the one to caution Harry to be more careful about when and where he spoke to the Pokémon least an unscrupulous individual see him and spread word to the wrong ears about his ability. Harry knew his cousin was right to be concerned but he had a very hard time remembering that when he was face to face with the Pokémon; that was especially true when two or more Pokémon began gossiping.

So, in an odd twist of circumstances, Dudley played protector for Harry since his Harry's sense of suspicion and paranoia were essentially broken. Each time the slightly older boy stepped in to prevent Harry from revealing his ability to yet another person, Harry would bemusedly stare at him as if seeing him for the first time. With each passing day, it was getting harder and harder to see the cousin he remembered from his childhood in the young blonde. Harry could honestly say that he preferred the new Dudley over the old Dudley. Oddly enough, so could Dudley.

The fifteenth of November would see a break in studying as Ms. Ketchum borrowed Professor Oak's car and took the trio of world travelers into Viridian City to purchase clothes and other personal necessities. That had been a rather interesting expedition as Harry had learned almost as much about the larger town through observation as he had listening to Daisy. One thing that he found surprising was the high number of Pokémon that willingly worked alongside of their Trainers or Partners performing odd jobs such as sweeping, construction work, or gardening.

He also saw more familiar partnerships, such as canine-like Pokémon working alongside of police officers. Even more amazing was the fact that no one really paid attention to those Pokémon that worked alongside their human counterparts; at least, no one outside of the trio who were new to this world. That told him that humans had been working alongside their Pokémon companions for a long time. It was a stark contrast to the wizarding world where most creatures were either hunted for consumption or potion ingredients or locked away in reserves to prevent non-magicals from seeing them; the only exceptions being postal owls and the occasional familiar (such as a kneazle or crup), for the most part.

That wasn't to say that there weren't people out there that abused their Pokémon, because there were. There were also people who treated their Pokémon like objects or semi-intelligent pets that could do neat tricks but inevitably had no thoughts or feelings of their own. And there were poachers that hunted and captured wild Pokémon to sell. Harry found that side of society less of a surprise simply because it was part of human nature. And no, he didn't condone their behavior; he just accepted the fact that there were people like that out there.

In time, Harry would not hesitate to defend and protect abused, neglected, and exploited Pokémon when the situation warranted it. He was far too much of a Gryffindor to walk away from the sight of someone harming another; even if the one being harmed was not human. His future action would just not be driven by his anger as they had been in the past; which would actually allow him to make more level headed decisions instead of running off headfirst into danger just because someone angered him.

The de-aged wizard wasn't given much time to dwell on the seedy underbelly of his new world during his first visit to Viridian City though as the moment she'd parked the car, Ms. Ketchum became a woman possessed. Ms. Ketchum would drag all three ten year olds to the nearest clothing store first, where she helped them to pick out a couple changes of study and warm clothes each along with an ungodly amount of underwear. The woman had a strange fixation on clean underwear for some reason; Harry had even heard her telling Professor Oak to make certain he changed his underwear one morning.

Once they'd finished purchasing clothes, they were dragged to a local drug store where they could buy toiletries and other personal hygiene aides, sit for an eye exam so he could get a new pair of lenses for his glasses, and interesting backpacks that magically held far more than they looked like they could at first glance. Harry had inspected several of the bags to see if they had some kind of Undetectable Expansion Charm on them or something but he'd not found anything. Harry bought two of the packs; a dark red one for himself and a silver one designed more like a set of western saddlebags that could be tied onto the back of a bicycle or worn by a Pokémon.

Upon finishing their personal shopping, the trio was introduced to the PokéMart where all of the products sold were designed for Pokémon. The world-wide chain store provided a wide variety of Pokémon foods that appealed to different species, types, natures, and ages, a wide assortment of training aides, a selection of accessories for dressing up one's Pokémon, and a large assortment of medicines that were applied both topically and orally to heal almost any ailment possible in a pinch if you couldn't get to a Pokémon Center right away.

On top of that, there were stimulants available to temporarily enhance a Pokémon's Battle Stats, repellents designed to chase away wild Pokémon, and guide books on nearly everything Pokémon related. It was rather a lot to take in for Harry since he'd never set foot in the pet section of a store back in his original world and therefore was unaware of how insane people could be when it comes to pet paraphernalia. A trait that the wizarding world didn't really share since magic reduced the need for things like litter box liners and poop scoops and the only guide books that existed were those that doubled as text books for the Care of Magical Creatures class at Hogwarts.

Dudley was far better prepared to handle the abundance of Pokémon products and he deftly collected those items that all three of them would need to care for their Pokémon with plenty of advice and suggestions from Ms. Ketchum. Harry and Luna had no trouble leaving Dudley to it; since it allowed the older boy to feel useful and because he actually knew what he was doing, it meant that they were less likely to end up with something they didn't need.

Once they had finished purchasing their Pokémon supplies, Ms. Ketchum declared their business in Viridian City concluded for the time being and the trio was soon piled into Professor Oak's car once more while their newly purchased things were safely ensconced in the boot of the car. On the whole, the trio felt as if they'd accomplished quite a bit as they now owned clean clothes and toiletries and could care for their Pokémon without relying up the Oaks or the Ketchums for their needs. The only dissatisfaction they (which was mostly just Dudley) had experienced had come when Ms. Ketchum insisted on paying for everything they had purchased.

She claimed it was to pay them back for all of the free babysitting that Dudley and Luna had done for her since Professor Oak had brought the three of them back to Pallet Town. Harry suspected the woman just wanted to mother them; much as she mothered the Oak family. Harry had been hesitant to accept the woman's help, as had Dudley; Harry's memories of being called a burden still lingering in the back of his mind while Dudley felt awkward about accepting what he saw of as charity when he now knew the benefits of earning things with his own two hands (something he'd learned after he'd graduated from Smeltings).

Luna had been the one to make both boys back down and accept the woman's generosity before she promptly offered the single mother future babysitting services for the duration of their stay in Pallet Town in return for her generosity. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Luna desperately longed for a mother figure in her life after losing her mother in her first life. And it was with that knowledge that Harry had acquiesced and accepted Ms. Ketchum's generosity; Luna's happiness was far more important to him than his pride.

The beaming smile Luna had flashed him in return made it worth it.

Upon returning to Pallet Town after their shopping trip to Viridian City, Harry would drop his stuff in the guest room that he and Dudley now shared (the same room he'd woken up in almost a week earlier) before he took a quick shower and changed into a pair of clean underwear, socks, dark brown canvas pants, and a dark green long-sleeved shirt. His old clothes were then dumped in with the rest of the laundry so they could be washed again (one of the many chores that Harry and Dudley both took turns helping Daisy with); he would keep them for those times when he knew he'd be getting dirty so as not to ruin his new clothes.

Dudley would follow his example while Luna actually headed over to the Ketchum's house to shower and change after Ms. Ketchum offered to braid her hair for her. Dudley would then disappear to explore the village while there was still daylight left. Luna, on the other hand, would spend the rest of the day with Ms. Ketchum.

Harry, in turn, would spend the rest of the afternoon sprawled out on the living room floor with Moony dozing against his left side and Gryffin tucked up under his chin as he read through one of the guidebooks he'd picked up and taught the Litleo how to read. Seated on the couch off to his right, Daisy silently kept him company as she doted on Trouble while Luna's Spoink, which she'd named Spork for some strange reason, slept in her lap. It was another one of those touching scenes that Professor Oak would secretly capture on film when he passed through the room at one point.

Dudley and Luna would both return in time to join them for supper and after the meal, Dudley and Harry would take turns reading one of the travel guides aloud for Luna while Daisy often interjected little tidbits of useful information or further explained anything the three world travelers didn't understand. Gary would also add a few comments here and there; though his were of a less useful nature as he tended to either brag about the things he knew or insult those he thought were dense. Gryffin usually ended Gary's ego trips and nipped his disdainful attitude in the bud by playfully pouncing on the five year old any time he got too big for his britches.

Occasionally, Moony would feel the need to add his own two cents to the mix when the Absol pinned both the lion cub and Gary in place with a paw to get them both to settle down. That was the limit of rough housing allowed in the house though; least things get broken in the event that either Pokémon accidentally drew on their powers while in the house.

All in all, it was a pleasant end to a long day and all five children would sleep deeply that night.

The next morning would see their history and geography lessons pick up from where they'd left off; the trio learning about some of the smaller islands scattered off the coast including Cinnabar Island, Camomile Island, Cerise Island, Chrysanthemum Island, and the Seafoam Islands. They would take a break at that point to eat lunch with both Gary and Ash (who was hanging out at the Oaks' place that day while his mother worked).

They'd barely returned to the living room after finishing their meal when the group was waylaid by Professor Oak who promptly requested, "Harry, would you mind terribly if I borrowed you for the afternoon? I'd like to run a couple of tests and experiments on the accuracy of your ability to speak to the Pokémon, with your cooperation. I trust that you have been truthful with me about your abilities but the others might remain skeptical without solid proof that you aren't just mimicking a Pokémon's call."

"Um," Harry hesitantly replied as he shot a brief glance at the others.

"We'll cover the other islands tomorrow morning," Daisy decided upon learning that she would be losing one of her 'students' for the afternoon. "In fact, we can just move all of our lessons to the morning so that all three of you can have plenty of time to explore and do whatever else you'd like to do instead of staying cooped up in the house all day long every day."

"Oh, okay, I guess," Harry reluctantly agreed; part of him surprised at himself for his desire to stick with the lessons when he'd spent so much of his youth running away from lessons.

"Wonderful, go ahead and grab your jacket and I'll take you up to the Lab," Professor Oak crowed with undisguised excitement as he clapped his hands in anticipation.

Harry blinked at the man in bemusement before he snorted in amusement and headed upstairs to grab the tan and white wool lined winter jacket and the machine knitted emerald green, tan, and white striped scarf, hat, and glove set that Ms. Ketchum had insisted he get the previous day. He quickly pulled the knitted cap over his messy hair, draped the scarf around his neck, and stuffed the corner of his gloves in his mouth before he pulled on his jacket as he tromped back down the stairs.

* * *

**Notes:**

Pokémopolis – is an anime canon ruin that makes an appearance in 'The Ancient Puzzle of Pokémopolis' (Episode 72 in the original series). At this point in the timeline (i.e. the point in the story where Daisy is giving the first history lesson), the information surrounding the Legend of Pokémopolis has not yet been discovered and so that information was left out of her recitation. I also used creative license for most of Pallet Town's and the Oak Family's history (since it is not really given in the anime series or the games) and for the timeline referred to in the story.

Okido(s) – is actually the Japanese surname for the Oaks and I only used it here as a tribute to the original Japanese series since this is one of the few crossovers where I am almost exclusively using the English names for everything.

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	6. Oak's Pokémon Research Laboratory

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Five: Oak's Pokémon Research Laboratory

_November 16, 2030  
Oak Research Lab, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

The flash of a camera would catch Harry off guard as hopped off the second to last step; his hat sitting crookedly on his head, his hair sticking out at all angles, his jacket collar half folded under itself with the sides of the jacket spread out to the side like wings along with his arms, and the two gloves hanging from his mouth. The moment Harry realized what had happened, his eyes grew really wide and he froze with his hands still halfway down the sleeves of his jacket. He didn't really have any good memories of having his picture taken between Colin Creevey's in-your-face-every-five-seconds photography and the Prophet's efforts to always obtain the most scandalous moments possible.

"Ready to go?" Professor Oak inquired as he calmly tucked the camera into the pocket of his lab coat.

Harry slowly took a breath and finished pulling on his jacket before he reached up to unroll the collar so that the jacket sat properly on his shoulders. He then nodded and began crossing the room once more as he reclaimed his gloves from his mouth and pulled them on; his eyes automatically dropping to the pocket that now held the camera.

"Let's be off then," Professor Oak replied as he headed for the door and held it open so that Harry could duck out of the house first.

Professor Oak followed on his heels and as soon as he closed the door behind him, Professor Oak began leading the way to where the Research Lab sat on a lightly forested hill overlooking the rest of the village and Harry soon forgot all about the camera as he studied the Laboratory. The building itself looked like a three story barn with an attached house on the side and situated directly behind the raised portion of the building, was a large wind turbine with yellow blades.

As they reached the long, curved staircase that led up to the top of the hill, Harry was joined by Moony and Gryffin; both feline-like Pokémon had followed his scent to track him down the moment they learned he was outside (the wind had carried his scent to them the moment he stepped outside). Harry eyed the stairs with slight trepidation as he tried to estimate just how many stairs he'd have to climb in order to reach the top. A soft groan escaped his lips when he deduced that he was going to be more than a little sore by the time he reached the summit.

"_Your human body is still too frail, I will carry you to the top,_" Moony declared imperiously as he pushed up against Harry before he dropped down onto his belly in a clear invitation for Harry to get on his back.

Narrowing his eyes at being called weak, Harry shook his head as he stubbornly retorted, "_No way!_" Harry then darted up the steps, taking them two at a time as he called back over his shoulder, "_Last one to the top is a rotten egg!_"

Gryffin let out a kittenish roar in response to the obvious challenge before he raced up the stairs after Harry; his feline nature allowing him to easily jump two and three stairs at a time. Behind the two, Moony let out a soft huff before he leapt over the fence of bushes that bracketed either side of the staircase and began loping uphill instead of bothering with the steps. Harry's cheeks were soon rosy from the cold and exertion as he unconsciously pulled on hidden reserves to increase his speed up the steps; his body converting his replenished magic stores into energy.

Moony would reach the top first; his path up the hill straighter and his body and long legs built for speed. Harry and Gryffin would both reach the top at the same time next; the little lion cub's body and short legs built more for short sprints than sustained runs and Harry's new, younger body not really used to the exercise. Harry's entire face was red, his lungs felt as if they were burning with each breath, and his heart was beating out in triple time but despite that, he'd never felt more alive.

By the time Professor Oak joined them at the top of the stairs several minutes later, Harry's body had mostly recovered from his mad dash up the stairs and Harry had fallen to grappling with Gryffin as they waited for the man while Moony watched over them. Professor Oak's camera made another, brief appearance but this time Harry didn't notice his picture being taken as he tried to pry Gryffin off of the back of his neck. The moment Oak's slippers (teal ones, this time) slid into Harry's line of sight, the two stopped playing around and Harry scrambled back up onto his feet with Gryffin in his arms.

"Come on, I'll give you a tour of the facility before we run a few experiments," Professor Oak coaxed as he headed for the entrance.

As soon as he stepped into the building, Harry found himself in a small lobby holding two couches, a coffee table, and a combination bookshelf/entertainment center that covered two walls. His eyes had barely taken in the magenta and purple rug that covered the floor and the items on display in the shelves around the television before he was being ushered through the door set into the right hand wall into what Professor Oak called the study.

The new room ran the three-quarters of the length of the 'house' side of the laboratory with one side lined with a row of freestanding bookshelves with cupboards with a store room taking up the final quarter. Scattered about the room were a couple of step ladders and several boxes filled with all kinds of odds and ends. Oddly enough, there weren't any desks in the room for people to use for their 'studies'; which made it kind of strange for the room to be called a study.

After giving Harry a moment to look around the room, Professor Oak led him back into the lobby and through the door at the back of the room into a room filled with several workstations and several more bookshelves crammed full of files, books, and an eclectic assortment of gadgets and gizmos. There were a couple of men and one woman in lab coats similar to Professor Oak's scattered about the room either typing away at computer keyboards or flipping through books. Not a single one of the individuals, whom Professor Oak called his aides, bothered to look up as Professor Oak led Harry through the room to the staircase – all of the far too engrossed in their work.

Upstairs turned out to be the main lab where a large assortment of complicated machines hugged two of the four walls. There was even a huge monitor taking up one section of the left hand wall beside what almost looked like some sort of weird vacuum sitting over a square metal plate with a round indentation. On the wall opposite of the monitor, there were two more complex machines that bracketed a large water tank. Not far from the stairs, there was a lab table with lab equipment spread out across it and a round, freestanding machine with wheels that was about three feet tall and had indentations on the top that were about the size and shape of the bottom half of an expanded PokéBall.

On the opposite end of the room, there was another stair case leading up to a large balcony that overlooked the entire lab and had a great view of Pallet Town out of three large windows. Underneath the balcony sat a large desk and chair, a large glass-fronted bookshelf, an old couch, and what looked like a drafting table. On the wall behind the couch there were another four windows that let in additional light and also looked out over Pallet Town. The last thing Harry noted was a door up on the balcony that he would later learned led into a storage room where Professor kept spare parts for the various lab machines.

The next stop on their tour, took them back downstairs to the workroom where the aides conducted their research and through a side door that opened into a short hallway that led to a kitchen, a bathroom, and the Pokémon Storage Room where Professor Oak kept hundreds of occupied PokéBalls on special storage shelves. Before Harry could even wonder if the Pokémon ever left those PokéBalls, the professor explained that his aides released the Pokémon out back in shifts so that they could exercise and play. He also learned that some of the Pokémon in that room belonged to the townsfolk, some belonged to his aides, and the rest were what he called Starter Pokémon (a select group of Pokémon that would be given to newly registered Pokémon Trainers in the spring).

Professor Oak then selected four of PokéBalls from their shelves before he led Harry through the storage room to a large sliding glass door that opened up onto the grounds behind the lab.

Harry stopped short in surprise as his eyes fell on the extensive plateau that stretched out from behind the lab. He was more than a little surprised to note that the sprawling grounds were comprised of several different types of terrains. There was a large sandy desert filled with towering rock structures, a vast grassland field, large forested cliffs, and rolling hills dotted with shrubbery. There was even a river that cut through the area connecting a large lake that sat back behind the hills to the ocean that was less than ten miles from the town. A sturdy wooden fence extended from either side of the lab and disappeared into the distance; the fence intended to keep the facility's Pokémon in and wild Pokémon out.

Scattered throughout the grounds were several species of Pokémon; only a few of which Harry recognized from pictures he'd seen in his guidebooks.

Gryffin soon vacated Harry's arms so he could explore the extensive grounds while Moony made himself comfortable on the ground beside the sliding glass door leading back into the lab where he could keep an eye on Harry and keep watch on anyone passing through the door. Harry watched the cub stalking through the grass for a moment before he ventured a little further out into the pasture himself as he openly studied the various Pokémon wandering around. He didn't go too far before he recalled that he was supposed to be helping Professor Oak conduct a few tests to prove that he was actually speaking to the Pokémon.

Harry cast a glance back towards the lab and soon found the Professor talking to one of his aides. He frowned when he noted that the aide was mounting a video camera onto a tripod. His eyes were soon drawn away from the video camera when the sound of flapping wings caught his attention. Harry glanced up as a brown and cream colored bird that was roughly twice the size of a pigeon dropped down to hover in front of him. It became clear that the bird was a type of Pokémon the moment it opened its mouth and spoke.

"_Not a worm._"

"_No, definitely not a worm,_" Harry agreed with a soft snort before he promptly thrust his hands out to catch the shocked bird when she fell out of the air in response to hearing Harry speak in the Pokémon language.

"What have you got there, Harry?" Professor Oak inquired as he joined the wizard at that point.

"A hungry bird Pokémon of some sort," Harry answered as he held the creature out so that the professor could see it clearly.

"Ah, that's a wild Pidgey; the Tiny Bird Pokémon. They are quite common in this area and frequently come here hunting scraps during late autumn and winter when food in the wild is scarce. I'm actually surprised it's letting you hold it."

"I think I shocked her when I agreed with her statement that I wasn't a worm and I had to catch her before she hit the ground when she started to fall."

"How do you know that Pidgey is female? Did she tell you?"

"No, I could hear it in her voice; the female Pokémon that I've spoken to so far all have a slightly higher timbre to their voices while the male Pokémon tend to have slightly lower and gruffer voices."

"How interesting," Professor Oak mused as he pulled a clipboard out of his lab coat and began taking notes while Harry tried to figure out just how the man had fit the full-sized clipboard in such a small pocket. "Have you noticed any other differences between male and female Pokémon?"

"Er, no, not really; I've not yet seen both genders of the same species together. At least, not up close."

"I will make note to have you work with small groups of Pokémon comprised of both genders in the future," Professor Oak murmured as he made another few notes on his clipboard. "In the mean time, I'd like to start the first test."

"Um, okay, give me just a second here," Harry replied before he returned his attention to the Pokémon cradled in his hands and gently prodded the silent and frozen bird with a finger. "_Hey, are you going to be alright, little Pidgey?_"

"_You speak,_" the Pidgey stated in disbelief as she shook herself out of her stupor before craning her head back and forth in order to inspect him with both eyes.

"_Yes._"

"_Are you a Pidgey disguised as a human?_"

"_No, I am a human._"

"_But you speak like a Pidgey!_" the Pidgey protested as it began jumping about on Harry's hands in agitation.

"_I do? Weird, I didn't know I sounded like a specific kind of Pokémon since to me it sounds like I am speaking English or what you would call human speech,_" Harry countered thoughtfully as he vaguely recalled Professor Oak commenting on his ability to seamlessly switch between Pokémon dialects.

"_Am I the only Pokémon that you have spoken to?_"

"_No, I've spoken with at least six different Pokémon not counting you._"

"_I've never heard of a human that speaks our language before._"

"_I've always been different,_" Harry quipped with a grimace that felt rather unnatural on his face due to the fact that he could not feel the frustration that he'd once felt over the knowledge that he would forever stand out amongst others no matter what he did. "_Will you be alright now? I am supposed to be helping Professor Oak with a few tests._"

"_Yes, I will be fine now that I am no longer petrified with shock. I will warn the others about you,_" the Pidgey replied as she launched herself skyward and took off before Harry could ask her not to tell others about him.

"I think my life just got more complicated," Harry deadpanned as the little bird rapidly vanished from sight.

"Oh? Why do you say that, Harry?"

"Because that gossiping Pidgey just said she was going to tell all of her friends about me."

"I'll have one of my aides order wild bird Pokémon feed and earth worms in bulk so that the wild Pidgey won't terrorize the domesticated Pokémon in search of food when they inevitably come to chat with you."

Harry wrinkled his nose in response to that remark from the professor and if he had been capable of it, he would have felt more than a little worried since it sounded like the man wanted to encourage the wild Pokémon to visit the lab (for research purposes, of course). His attention was then distracted from the impending doom of being smothered by future hoards of wild Pokémon when Professor Oak released the Pokémon from the four PokéBalls that he had gathered from the Lab's Pokémon Containment Center.

Part of the de-aged wizard was unsurprised when he noted that all four Pokémon were from a different species and that all four of them were not from a species that he'd interacted with previously. The first one was a fox-like feline with brown fur, cream colored neck ruff, cream-tipped tail, and chocolate brown eyes with black pupils and no sclera showing. The next was a blue colored turtle with a shell that was orangish-brown and rimmed with white on top and yellow on the bottom and deep red eyes with black pupils and white sclera.

The third Pokémon looked lizard-like with thick orange skin, a yellow underbelly, a yellow and red flame burning on its tail-tip, and large dark teal eyes with black pupils and white sclera. And the last Pokémon had a light teal body with dark teal spots, a green bud-like growth sitting on its back, and bright red eyes with white pupils and white sclera. All in all, the four Pokémon looked very different from any Pokémon he'd seen to date and he couldn't help but wonder what was so special about the four of them that Professor Oak had chosen them to take part in the tests that he was going to have Harry take to prove that he truly was speaking to the Pokémon in their native language.

The four Pokémon in turn inspected Harry just as curiously as he'd inspected them; the fox-like feline most especially and the creature's intense brown eyes gave the impression of great age while the other three Pokémon seemed far younger. Once the mutual inspections had been completed, Harry turned his attention back to Oak while the three younger Pokémon took to wrestling with one another; increasing the impression of innocent youth that clung to them.

"The Pokémon you see before you are four out of the five typical Starter Pokémon that are handed out to new Trainers that register in the Kanto Region each spring," Professor Oak explained as he gestured to the small group of Pokémon. "From left to right, they are Eevee, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. The missing Starter Pokémon is a Pikachu but I currently don't have any of them on hand."

"The Eevee was one of the first Pokémon brought to the Research Lab while the other three are all less than a year old and destined to be partnered with their first Trainer this next spring. For your first test, I'd like for you to talk with each Pokémon and learn three things about it; such as the Pokémon's gender, level, current moves, or in the case of Eevee, its Trainer's name and how long the Eevee has been with that Trainer. My aide will be recording the test for review purposes and as visual proof of your ability."

"Okay," Harry replied as he shot a skeptical look at the video camera. "Should I start now or do you need me to wait a little longer?"

"Professor Oak will introduce you first and provide today's date along with a brief description of this test's purpose before you begin," the aide, whose name Harry never caught, replied as a small red light on the side of the device began flashing. "Ready when you are, sir!"

"Right, good afternoon, this is Professor Oak speaking and with me is ten year old Harry Potter. I am here today, on the sixteenth of November in the year twenty-thirty, to supervise the first in a series of tests designed to prove, without a doubt, that young Harry is cable of communicating with any species of Pokémon in their native dialect. For the first test, I have chosen four Starter Pokémon for Harry to speak with; an Eevee's whose Trainer has not been named in Harry's presence in addition to a Squirtle, a Charmander, and a Bulbasaur that have not yet been partnered with a Trainer."

"In this first test, Harry has been asked speak to each Pokémon in order to learn three things about each individual. It should also be noted that this is Harry's first time being introduced to these particular species of Pokémon, that he has not been given any information other than the name of their species, and that he is not originally from the Kanto Region and therefore does not have pre-existing background knowledge on any of the four species present. The last note I'd like to make is that there are no psychic Pokémon present and Harry does not currently have a psychic type Pokémon."

Once he'd finished rattling off that information, Professor Oak turned to Harry and asked, "Are you ready to begin, Harry?"

"Yes, sir," Harry replied as he briefly glanced at the camera before he knelt down on the ground so that he was on eye level with all four Pokémon. He then briefly glanced at the trio goofing around before he focused on the Eevee as he softly greeted, "_Hello, I'm Harry._"

The sound of Harry's voice speaking in the language of Pokémon prompted the three 'baby' Pokémon to stop playing with each other as they turned as one to stare at Harry with wide-eyed curiosity. Harry couldn't help but smile at the creatures as they reminded him of half-grown puppies. That smile promptly broke the spell the three little ones had been under from the moment they heard him speak and they all rushed forward into order to investigate him more thoroughly.

"_It is a pleasure to meet you, Harry; I am Eevee,_" the Eevee replied in a light tenor as he sat down and watched the younger Pokémon crawling over and snuffling about Harry's slight frame. "_Sam warned me that he had found a young boy that could speak to Pokémon but I thought him sleep deprived until I heard you speak for myself just now. How is it that you can speak our language?_"

"_It's a long story but I grew up with the ability to speak to non-Pokémon snakes when the man who tried to kill me as a baby gave me some of his powers instead. When my friends and I were brought to this world, that ability changed from an ability to speak to snakes into the ability to speak with Pokémon. Is Sam your trainer?_"

"_Yes, I have been with him for forty-six years now._"

"_That's a long time; how long do Pokémon normally live for? And if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?_"

"_It varies, Pokémon with strong wills will inevitably live far longer than those who are weak. A healthy, well loved Pokémon will also live far longer than a sickly, unhappy Pokémon. Pokémon that are partnered with a human tend to live longer than those in the wild. We are stronger when partnered with a human. And I am sixty-six years old in human years._"

"_Who did you live with during the twenty years you were not with Sam?_"

"_For nineteen years I belonged to Sam's father and when Simon and Rebecca passed on, I went with their son to watch over him in their stead. I still miss my Simon, he was my first partner, after all, but Sam __**is**__ family and I have been happy with him these past forty-six years._"

"_Your Trainer is very lucky to have you,_" Harry murmured as his thoughts went to Hedwig before turning to Gryffin, Moony, and Trouble.

"_And I am lucky to have him,_" Eevee replied as he turned to smile fondly at Professor Oak.

"_Wait, Professor Oak is your Trainer?_" Harry asked in surprise when he noticed who the Pokémon was watching while he gently pushed the orange Charmander out of his face and pulled the Squirtle off his head.

"_Yes._"

"_Then that means that you are the Eevee from Daisy's history lesson on Pallet Town._"

"_I am; that story was always one of Stanley's favorites, if only because he used to love to tease his father for lying about his age when he first applied for his Trainer's License. It does not surprise me to learn that Stanley's daughter would be just as eager to share that story._"

Harry chuckled as he cast a sideways glance at the man in question even as he redirected the Bulbasaur's **Tackle** so that the Pokémon pounced on Squirtle instead of him. The little Charmander, which had been sneaking up on him from behind, burst out laughing as the other two 'babies' tumbled in circles around Harry.

"_I have one last question for you, Eevee, then I will need to deal with the little hooligans before they start gnawing on my toes,_" Harry quipped as he reached behind him and snagged the Charmander off the ground; his words drawing a bark of laughter from the older Pokémon. "_How does a Pokémon determine their age? I mean, you said earlier that you were sixty-six in human years; so what would that be in Pokémon years?_"

"_Pokémon don't count the years, we count the level of our experience; so you can say that we all age at different rates since some of us grow rather fast while others grow very slowly. The higher our level, the older, wiser, and stronger we are when compared to a lower leveled Pokémon of the same species. In Pokémon terms, I am eighty-seven and I am therefore amongst the oldest and strongest of my species since I chose not to evolve when given the opportunity to do so in the past._"

"_And you gain experience by fighting, correct? At least, I think that's what Gryffin told us when we first woke up in this world._"

"_Correct, battling is one way to gain experience. We also gain experience when our Trainers teach us new moves or new skills. Battling is the fastest way to gain more experience though._"

"_Thank you for answering my questions,_" Harry murmured as he nodded to the fox-like feline and Eevee nodded back in return before he bounded over to Professor Oak and pawed at the mans pants until the professor picked him up and set him on his shoulder.

"Will you tell us what you learned from your discussion with Eevee, Harry?" Professor Oak inquired as he offered his Pokémon a treat from his pocket.

"Well, for starters, your Eevee thought you were sleep deprived when you first told him that you'd met a boy who could talk to Pokémon in their own language," Harry drawled in reply as he stroked the Charmander in his lap like a cat as the Pokémon batted playfully at the ends of the scarf that Harry was wearing; his teasing remark garnering a laugh from the aide manning the video camera and a blush from the professor.

"I also learned that Eevee is sixty-six years old in human years and eighty-seven in Pokémon terms. That he has been your partner for forty-six years and was the partner of your father, Simon, for nineteen years prior to him becoming your partner. He also confirmed that you fudged your age on your first Trainer's License. The last thing I learned is that Eevee is a very kind and patient Pokémon and that he cares deeply for you and sees you as his family."

"Yes, well, the information that you've provided is completely accurate; though I will state for the record that I only added a single year to my age on that first License Application and later had my age corrected once I was no longer in danger of having Eevee confiscated due to being under age," Professor Oak stated as his blushed deepened over having that minor crime still being brought up forty-six years later. "If you could continue with the test…?"

Harry snickered to himself and shook his head even as he dropped his attention to the teal-eyed Pokémon in his lap and remarked, "_You're certainly a playful little Pokémon; are you part cat?_"

"_Me lizard,_" the Charmander retorted in a voice that was distinctly feminine; her inexperience clearly obvious in her lack of proper grammar and rather simple vocabulary.

"_Me Squirtle,_" the Squirtle interjected as he scrambled up onto Harry's knee and tried to push Charmander off of Harry's lap. "_Squirtle Turtle._"

"_Bulbasaur hungry_," the Bulbasaur complained as he pulled Squirtle off Harry's lap and used the turtle Pokémon as a step ladder to get up on Harry's lap.

"_Mine!_" Charmander growled before she pushed Bulbasaur off Harry's lap; knocking the other Pokémon into Squirtle and sending both of them tumbling to the ground again.

"_If all three of you will behave for a moment, I will get each of you a treat,_" Harry bribed when both male Pokémon looked ready to **Tackle** Charmander while she was still on Harry's lap and the Charmander growled fiercely in preparation of defending 'her' territory. All three Pokémon froze in place before they scrambled to line up directly in front of Harry with pleading eyes and rumbling tummies. Harry then looked up and asked, "Professor Oak, do you have something I can offer these three to eat? Their hunger is making them a bit aggressive."

The professor tossed Harry a bag of Pokémon food that Harry easily caught and he murmured an absentminded thanks to the man as he opened the bag, pulled out a trio of block-like treats, handed one to each of the Pokémon. There was a bit of pushing and shoving between the three of them but they didn't actually fight over the food. Harry would then spend several minutes drawing one and two word answers from the young Pokémon (who he learned were each at level one) in exchange for another block of food for each question answered.

Due to their short attention spans, he only asked them a total of four questions each before he gave them a little handful of the food, a friendly pat, and a thank you for cooperating. Harry then tossed the bag of food back to the Professor and leaned back to watch the trio scarf their food. As soon as they'd finished eating, they immediately scrambled up onto Harry's lap with much pushing and shoving until they promptly fell asleep in a tangle of limbs. Harry chuckled in response to their antics as he sat up so he could pet the trio.

"Were you able to learn anything from those three, Harry?" Professor Oak asked in order to wrap up the test.

"A bit, yeah. They were rather difficult to understand though because they have so little experience. They're like little newborn babies with very short attention spans. All three of them are very competitive and possessive; they don't like to share and they don't like it when someone else has something they don't have. The Charmander is the only girl in the group and she's very territorial; going so far as to claim my lap as hers. I also learned that each of them dislikes the other two because of their types; I guess it's an instinctive rivalry between them that they are too young to set aside."

"They're obviously very playful and are happiest wrestling with one another but the moves they know are pretty much ineffective since they are still learning how to use them. All three of them only know one move; **Tackle** for Bulbasaur and Squirtle and **Scratch** for Charmander but she's also trying to learn **Growl**. Charmander is also the closest one to reaching level two. Not sure if that was three things each but that was all I could learn from them until they gain a little more experience and pick up a few new words."

"I counted at least three bits of information about each Pokémon," Professor Oak stated as he referred to the notes that he'd been taking throughout the duration of the entire test. "And that will conclude the extent of this first test. Total duration of test was one hour and fifteen minutes."

The red light on the camera blinked out a moment later as the aide shut the camera off and promptly pulled out the video tape before he tucked it into an empty case and labeled the case so the video wouldn't get mixed up with a blank one. He then pulled out a new tape from his bag and fed it into the camera before spending several minutes checking to make certain that the tape was blank.

"Will we be proceeding with Test Two or is that all for today?" the aide inquired once the camera had been readied a second time.

"Are you feeling up to doing another test, Harry?" Professor Oak asked; the man being very considerate of Harry's health since it was rather nippy outside and he had just gotten over a nasty bout of pneumonia not that long ago.

"I'm good," Harry replied as he glanced up from his crowded lap.

"Wonderful, did you wish me to clear your lap for you before we start?"

"Nah, they're fine where they are; they're helping to keep me warm."

"All right, just give me a moment to fetch a couple of older Pokémon from the Pokémon Storage Shelves and then we will start."

Ten minutes later, Harry was introduced to a Pidgeotto (the second evolutionary form of Pidgey), a Rhyhorn (a type of Rock Pokémon that looked something like a rhinoceros), and a Parasect (a duel type Bug/Grass Pokémon that looked something like a crab with a mushroom for a shell). All three of them were around level forty and partnered with one of the townsfolk. Once the introductions were done, the second test started with Professor Oak doing his introduction spiel again; though it was a touch different than his first one (to reflect the existence of the first test).

"Good afternoon, Professor Oak here with Harry Potter once again. Today's date is still the sixteenth of November in the year twenty-thirty and we will now be conducting the second test to confirm that Harry is capable of communicating with any species of Pokémon in their native dialect. During the first test, you will recall that I asked young Harry to gather information from four different Pokémon through dialogue; which he successfully completed."

"In this second test, I will be providing Harry with a series of tasks that he will be assigning to the Pidgeotto, Rhyhorn, or Parasect that I have chosen from amongst the Pokémon that are stored here at the Lab. Again, this is Harry's first time being introduced to these three Pokémon and his first time interacting with their species. There are also still no physic type Pokémon present. Moving on, the tasks that I will be providing him are ones that I have not yet divulged to either Harry or the Pokémon and I will now take a moment to write them out now instead of verbally passing that information to Harry."

Harry curiously watched the professor scribble something down on a sheet of paper before he pulled the paper free of the clipboard and held it up in front of the video camera as he continued, "As you can see, these are the six tasks that I will be asking Harry to have the Pokémon perform; two each for Pidgeotto, Rhyhorn, and Parasect. I will now fold the paper holding the tasks and seal them into this envelope before passing the envelope to Harry to prevent anyone else from reading the list out loud prior to Harry obtaining the list of tasks."

Professor Oak then demonstrated that the envelope was properly sealed before he calmly passed it to the green-eyed boy as he proclaimed, "The second test will now commence."

Harry accepted the envelope and flipped it over a couple of times before he slid his finger beneath the sealed flap and carefully tore it open along the side seam before squeezing the envelope open so that he could fish out the folded paper inside. He then unfolded the paper and read the six tasks that he'd been given to relay to the three Pokémon he'd just been introduced to. A soft snort escaped him when he saw a couple of the tasks since they were rather silly but he quickly pushed his amusement aside as he addressed the trio of adult Pokémon.

"_Hi, Pidgeotto, Parasect, and Rhyhorn; will the three of you be willing to help me with the test that Professor Oak is having me do?_" Harry politely asked so as not to offend the large Pokémon. "_As you might have heard, he wishes for me to ask each of you to complete two secret tasks but if you'd rather not listen to me since I'm not your Trainers, then I will let the professor know so that he can select another Pokémon to help with the test. Also, do the three of you have a name I can call you?_"

"_My Trainer did not give me a nickname but he calls me Pidge for short,_" the male Pokémon replied as he stretched out his wings and hopped closer. "_In the years that I traveled with my Trainer before he settled here, I have never before come across a human that could speak our language. You are a human, correct?_"

"_Yes, I am human. From what I understand, my ability to speak to Pokémon is very rare._"

"_You may call me Rhys,_" the female Rhyhorn stated once Harry had finished answering Pidge's question. "_Why are you helping Oak with his tests? What purpose will this test serve?_"

"_He wishes to confirm that I can understand the Pokémon language and that I am truly speaking your language when I speak to you instead of just trying to mimic your calls. Once he has proof that my ability is the real thing, I will help him with his research as he seeks to better understand Pokémon and their relationship to and with humans. In order for his fellow professors to take his work seriously though, he will need to show them proof that he verified my ability since people have lied about having such an ability in the past._"

"_And what is it that you hope to accomplish by helping the professor with his research?_" the Parasect demanded in a wispy tone that reminded Harry of sand rubbing against metal and made it difficult for him to determine if the Pokémon was male or female.

"_I am mostly helping Professor Oak to repay him for the kindness that he has shown to me and my friends. He took three lost strangers off the road and brought us back to his home before he nursed me back to health when he learned that I was sick. He also offered to teach us how to live in the world in which we suddenly found ourselves. The only thing I will get out of his research is knowledge; since I have no need of fame._"

"_Very well, we will help you, child,_" the Parasect stated after the three Pokémon had shared a single glance. "_What tasks did you wish for us to perform?_"

"_Thank you,_" Harry replied before he glanced back down at the list in his hand. "_The first task for you, Parasect; is to collect three edible wild mushrooms from the forest. Pidge's first task is to collect six late-blooming daisies from the hills. And Rhys's first task is to collect a piece of shale from the riverbank._"

All three Pokémon acknowledged their first assignments before they headed off to complete their tasks. Harry watched them go before he returned his attention to the baby Pokémon still sleeping on his lap. Pidge would be the first one to return with the requested flowers in beak; his wings giving him a decided advantage over the other two Pokémon. Harry accepted the flowers from the bird and then asked the Pokémon to collect three wild berries. Rhys would return just as Pidge took to the air once more; a rather large section of reddish-orange shale gently clasped in his mouth.

The Rhyhorn's second task would be to dig a five foot wide and three foot deep hole off to one side of the Lab for a future pond. Parasect and Pidge would both return at the same time; both of them depositing their assigned forage items beside Harry. Harry then promptly asked Parasect to use the move **Spore** (which put targets to sleep) on the other side of the pasture (so as not to put the humans to sleep) to fill up a beaker that Professor Oak provided.

Once Parasect and Rhys finished their second tasks, Harry thanked all three Pokémon and gave them each a treat that consisted of one berry, one mushroom, and a handful of Pokémon food. Professor Oak then wrapped up the video with a brief spiel that included the length of time it had taken the three Pokémon to complete the task. He even had Harry comment on his conversation with the three older Pokémon before the man declared that they were finished for the afternoon.

Over the course of the next week, Harry would complete another eight such tests (each one progressively more difficult and complex than the preceding test). He also sat down and performed two interviews after the fifth and tenth tests; the professor seeking to get a clearer picture of Harry's ability, understand the reactions of the Pokémon he has spoken to, and determine if there were any limitations to the ability. Harry mostly enjoyed the tests and loved interacting with the various Pokémon he was introduced to; he especially loved playing with the 'babies'.

He was not as fond of the interviews as Professor Oak tended to ask a lot of questions in his efforts to explore every aspect of Harry's ability. The man was very thorough as he spent hours reviewing the test videos in order to compile his questions; that was one of the reasons why he'd only sat down and interviewed Harry twice instead of doing so after each video. Harry didn't complain too much; his answers had helped Professor Oak figure out the best way to use Harry's gift of Pokémon Speech to augment his own research and reduce potential misunderstandings.

Upon finishing that final test (making the number of tests he'd performed to prove his ability was the real deal an even ten), Harry began helping Professor Oak with actual research; starting with the development of next year's batch of Starter Pokémon. Harry's job was to basically document the weekly development of the same three 'babies' he'd been introduced to during that first test. He was also asked to translate for those Pokémon that were sick, injured, or giving the aides a hard time in order better understand how to help them get better or feel less frustrated.

Harry often found himself comparing the work he did for Professor Oak and his aides to his old Care of Magical Creature lessons under Hagrid's less than perfect tutelage; including the chances of injury. The only difference was that the professor and his aides were far less likely to place Harry in a situation where he could be seriously maimed or outright killed by a 'misunderstood' creature. And any time a Pokémon he was working with got out of hand, one of Harry's Pokémon would intervene or, if they were off exploring, then one of the professor's personal Pokémon partners (usually Eevee) would step in to protect Harry.

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	7. A Pokémon Christmas

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Six: A Pokémon Christmas

_December 16, 2030  
Oak Residence, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

Harry watched in wide-eyed bemusement from a nest of blankets on the couch as Professor Oak tromped down the stairs carrying a stack of boxes while signing off-tune Christmas carols. The fast approaching holiday had an odd effect on everyone in Pallet Town; adults often breaking out into song or dancing about suddenly as they went about their daily lives with an extra spring in their step despite the two feet of snow that had been dropped on the town just a few days earlier. Even their Pokémon were in rather festive moods.

Now, Harry was no stranger to holiday exuberance and over-the-top Christmas cheer but it had been a long time since he'd last experienced such a thing. He'd also never really had a chance to personally participate in such activities; the green eyed wizard usually left watching from the sidelines. The closest he'd come to decorating and joining in the pre-Christmas traditions had been in his fifth year when Sirius had still been alive and even then, the holidays had been over shadowed by the attack on Mr. Weasley (and that memory was tainted by the memory of that man betraying Harry).

Oddly enough, Harry had no desire to actually join in the silliness despite the fact that he was supposed to be ten years old now. He was, for once, perfectly content to observe from the sidelines as he soaked up the festive atmosphere that had pervaded the entire town; the only exception being when it came to helping with the cooking and the baking. He especially enjoyed watching Dudley and Luna's faces light up as they readily joined in the activities and happily acted like the children they appeared to be. Their obvious happiness was what fueled Harry's contentment.

To him, seeing their smiling faces was the most beautiful thing in the world.

He wasn't blind; he'd seen both of them struggling under the burden of their memories from their first life at times. And Luna had the added burden of seeing bits and pieces of their future; not all of which was filled with sunshine and daisies.

Their past suffering was part of the reason why they'd so readily embraced their de-aged bodies and the opportunity they had been given to start over and grow up again. Harry did not begrudge them their choice but neither could he truly join them in childhood. Part of that was due to his inability to feel negative emotions since it prevented him from seeking and finding true closure because he could not rage over the injustices of those who had betrayed him nor could he grieve for all that had been lost. The rest of it was because he didn't truly know how to be a child.

He'd made a good show of pretending the first time he had been ten but that was a decade ago in his mind and the details were far too fuzzy.

No, he'd grown up far too fast the first time through and the wizarding war had beaten any potentially childish notions out of his head long before he'd reached his seventeenth birthday. His inability to feel negative emotions also meant that it was far more important for him to think things through rationally because he could not 'vent' or rely on his emotions to carry him through. That basically meant that he usually acted far too mature for his apparent age.

There were exceptions, of course.

The Pokémon frequently brought out his inner child when he wasn't paying attention. That was especially true of the babies and of his three Pokémon partners. Other children could also reduce his level of maturity drastically; or at least Gary and Ash could. Dudley and Luna tried to as well but the antics he got up to with them were more along the lines of the classic verbal teasing and word spars that old friends engage in any time they get together. They didn't really inspire him to 'act' his 'age'.

Nor did Daisy.

Harry wasn't certain what to make of Daisy at times. He liked her, of that there was no doubt. She was nice and she was intelligent without being overbearing (unlike a certain bossy, bushy-haired, former friend). But he felt rather awkward around her when she wasn't teaching their history and geography lessons. She was also an actual ten year old and the ten year mental gap between them made it harder for Harry to relate to her and figure out how to classify her in his mind. At the same time, the slightly older (physically, at least) girl had an aura about her that appealed to Harry and Pokémon alike.

He especially liked to listen to her voice whether she was speaking, singing, or laughing.

If he had to give description onto Daisy's voice, he would call it ethereal and compelling; her voice sharply reminding him of Fawkes.

Not that Harry would ever voice that comparison aloud.

He had no desire to be teased. Nor did he wish to be labeled a pervert.

It was the angelic sound of Daisy's voice joining her grandfather's voice in song that drew Harry's mind back from its internal wanderings and he glanced up to find the girl digging through the boxes that Professor Oak had carried down from the attic. Harry's blanket began wriggling of its own accord at the same time until a flame topped head poked free of the material to sniff at the air. Harry then lost his living hot water bottle when his fire Pokémon crawled free of the blanket nest and bounded over to wind through Daisy's legs.

"Are you still having trouble keeping warm?" Professor Oak inquired as he walked by with yet another box of Christmas decoration and caught sight of Harry wriggling about in an effort to save the extra warmth that Gryffin had been providing him before he'd slipped off to visit with Daisy.

"I was managing just fine until my hot water bottle grew legs and decided to wander off," Harry jokingly retorted as he stopped wiggling and pulled the blankets more securely around his body.

He'd never had much body fat and as a result, his body had always had difficulty retaining heat. When he had attended Hogwarts, he had been able to cheat and use Warming Charms (once he'd learned how to cast them) on his clothes to compensate. He'd lost his ability to cast magic externally (as had Luna) when they'd been sent through the Veil of Death, however, and while Chansey had corrected a lot of health issues he'd once had, the Pokémon had not been able to provide him with a layer of fat.

Nor could what remained of his magic be used to heat his body.

His magic, or what remained of it, had been twisted in his passage through the Veil and it now acted like an extension of his immune system; fighting potential diseases, viruses, bacterial infections, and the like. It also played a significant part in his ability to speak to and understand the Pokémon as his magic altered his vocal cords each time he used Pokémon Speech and translated their cries and calls into English the moment the sound vibrations reached his ears. And lastly, his body had been modified to convert his magic into energy that would allow him greater stamina and speed.

However, that the conversion of his magic into energy only took place when Harry was physically active (such as running up the stairs or chasing after Pokémon). It did not, and could not, convert magic into energy to heat Harry's body when he was not active. Normal walking or just sitting around didn't qualify as being physically active and any heat he produced when running quickly dissipated once he stopped moving and his heartbeat returned to normal.

So, while he would not get sick again any time soon and he'd always have energy to chase after the Pokémon, the cold would most likely be a constant irritant every winter; much as it always had been in the past.

There was also some debate on whether or not Harry would ever be able to build up a thin layer of fat to help insulate his body against the loss of body heat during the winter. The number of fat cells that a person has is set during their childhood and maintained through adulthood with the number of fat cells dying on a yearly basis being replaced by an equal number of fat cells being produced; meaning that the adult body maintains a certain average number of fat cells throughout their lifetime.

Genetics and diet both play a part in how many fat cells that a person has once they reach adulthood with a person reaching what amounts to the adult count of fat cells between ages sixteen and eighteen. Harry's body had already passed its eighteenth birthday before he'd been de-aged. And while his body had been reduced to the size it had been when he was first ten, his body was still, technically, twenty years old. He just no longer looked it.

What that potentially meant for Harry, was that his body might not be able to significantly increase the number of fat cells it produced on a yearly basis in order to provide him with a decent layer of insulation to retain his body heat.

Professor Oak had actually taken to monitoring Harry's weight, body composition, and diet once he picked up on the fact that Harry was both not gaining weight and that he was having increasing difficulties in staying warm once winter truly set in. The man had grown increasingly worried that Harry might end up seriously ill again due to the drastic drop in temperature on top of the significant amount of time Harry spent outside in the snow with the Pokémon. The man always seemed so surprised when Harry didn't catch even a slight cold after spending an afternoon in the snow with the Pokémon.

He had also been surprised to learn that the case of pneumonia he'd caught back at the beginning of November had been the first time Harry had ever been seriously ill. He'd had a case of the sniffles once or twice and a sore throat or two but that had been the extent of his childhood illnesses and even those hadn't lasted for more than half a day. When asked why he didn't get sick, Harry shrugged his shoulders and replied with a single word; magic.

That had prompted the professor to ask why he'd gotten so sick shortly after they'd met back on the first. Luna's answer to that question (since Harry hadn't known) had been nearly the same; magic. Or rather, the absence of magic (due to a severe case of magical exhaustion) coupled with his injuries, the trauma of being ripped out of his old world and thrust into this new world, and the lingering death magic that had been clinging to him at the time. There was also the fact that the viruses, bacteria, and other germs that his body had been used to fighting were just different enough from those found in this world that his immune system had struggled to cope with the 'foreign' pathogens at first.

Basically, his arrival in this world had shocked his system and it had taken his body a week to 'teach' itself how to fight against the 'new' viruses, bacteria, and germs.

The only reason why Dudley and Luna had not suffered through a similar ordeal was because they had actually been in slightly better shape, physically speaking, than Harry had been at the time. Dudley's newly gifted magic (which did nothing more than boost his immune system) had also not been depleted at the time; which meant that he'd been fully protected against the pathogens of this world right from the get go. Luna's magic had also not been quite as drained upon their arrival; which had meant that she'd had just a bit more protection than Harry had. She'd also not spent over two hours out in the chilly autumn air without proper protection against the elements.

In any case, his body's poor heat retention was the reason why Harry was currently curled up on the couch with several blankets and wearing several layers of clothing in an effort to keep warm. Gryffin, hot water bottle that he was due to his nature as a fire type Pokémon, had been helping to keep him warm by curling up with him beneath the blankets. It had been a rather effective method right up until the lion cub had decided to seek Daisy's attention. Harry didn't mind too terribly much; since it wasn't exactly freezing in the house.

"Shall I grab you another blanket or would you prefer that I sneak over to the lab and fetch a Charmander or two for you to replace your former hot water bottle with?" Professor Oak inquired in response to Harry's earlier quip.

"Nah, I'm good for now. The house isn't really all that cold since you started the fire earlier and it'll grow warmer still once Ms. Ketchum starts baking the next batch of goodies," Harry replied; both Ketchums had moved in with the Oaks for the duration of the winter (a tradition that had started many years earlier) so they wouldn't have to brave the weather to visit or check on the Oaks.

"I still say you only offer to help her with the baking because she lets you snack between batches," Dudley teased good-naturedly from where he was currently occupying Gary and Ash with a relatively child-friendly Christmas-y activity (stringing popcorn and cranberries onto a heavy duty thread to make garlands to hang on the tree).

"Someone has to be the taste-tester and insure everything tastes as good as it smells," Harry quipped in return; his voice utterly serious even though the corners of his mouth are twitching upwards as he fought the smirk that was threatening to form.

"Prat," Dudley huffed as he shook his head and snorted in amusement.

"No fair, I used to be mom's favorite taste-tester," Ash complained before he stuffed a handful of berries and popcorn into his mouth instead of stringing them onto the thread like he was supposed to.

"Stealing cookies from the cooling plate is not taste-testing, that's sneaking," Gary retorted as he pulled the bowl of cranberries to him and snagged a few to eat; the auburn haired boy not as fond of the unbuttered and unsalted popcorn as Ash.

"I guess since the two of you are eating the garland that I don't need to bring cookie and other goodie samples out to the two of you for taste-testing when I help Ms. Ketchum today since the two of you seem happy enough snacking on the decorations," Harry mischievously mused as he pulled a blanket up over his head like a hood in order to help keep the remaining heat trapped inside of his blanket nest.

"We'll stop snacking!" both boys immediately promised and Harry snickered to himself at how quickly they returned to stringing the popcorn and cranberries instead of eating them.

"Are you ready to help me with the next batch of fruitcakes and sugar cookies, Harry?" Ms. Ketchum inquired as she poked her head out of the kitchen where she'd been cleaning up the breakfast messes and checking to make certain she had all of the ingredients for that day's baking.

"Coming, ma'am," Harry called as he climbed out of his blanket nest to reveal that he was wearing several layers of clothes and his jacket beneath the covers.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Auntie Delia, young man?" Ms. Ketchum inquired with fond exasperation as she held the kitchen door open for him.

"Sorry, ma'am; I'll try to work on that," Harry replied as he ducked under her arm; part of him enjoyed teasing her with his persistent formality and the rest of him simply unable to associate the word 'aunt' with the kind woman; he had far too many unpleasant memories of Aunt Petunia to lump Ms. Ketchum into the same category. There was also the fact that Aunt Petunia had drilled manners and proper respect into Harry for years and having Professor McGonagall as his Head of House had only reinforced those manners (Snape, Lockhart, and Umbridge aside).

"You'll have to forgive my cousin, Auntie Delia; he's been rather stubborn for as long as I've known him," Dudley sagely interjected as he tied off yet another garland and carefully set it aside so it wouldn't get stepped on or eaten.

Harry studiously ignored his cousin's comment as he claimed the chair closest to the oven where he could already feel three-hundred and fifty degrees of blessed heat radiating from the appliance since Ms. Ketchum had pre-heated the oven before she had called him in to help her. He then spent the rest of the morning measuring out the necessary ingredients, stirring various batters and icings, filling bread pans and cookie sheets, and nibbling on cookies. Ms. Ketchum in turn manned the oven, melted chocolate on the stove, and supervised Harry's efforts (not that he really needed to be watched; he'd been cooking and baking since he was old enough to follow a recipe).

They would finish the baking by lunch time and Harry would take care of cleaning up their messes while Ms. Ketchum fixed lunch for everyone. The afternoon would then see all six children lending a hand icing cookies or dipping them in the melted chocolate, boxing up the finished cookies by the dozen, and wrapping the fruitcakes in holiday colored cellophane wrap. The boxed treats would then be sorted into large gift boxes with the other goodies that had been made over the past several days; each box destined for a different family in Pallet Town or a friend of the Oaks and Ketchums that lived in another city.

Most of the fruitcakes were actually intended as gifts for Pokémon; the fruits used in the cakes an assortment of wild and domestically grown PokéBerries (as they were sometimes called) instead of the usual fruits one would find in a fruitcake. Harry had been more than a little surprised to learn that some of the berries found in this world had magical or magic-like properties that restored health, cured status ailments (such as Paralyze, Frozen, Sleep, Burn, or Poison), or temporarily boosted a Pokémon's base Stats. Some berries even lowered a Pokémon's base stats while increasing the Pokémon's friendliness towards his or her trainer.

They were even the main ingredient in some of the medicines that were sold in the PokéMarts and in some of the lesser known herbal remedies that were used by those who preferred not to use the more expensive mass produced medicines or chemical sprays. Those that didn't have healing properties were often used to make Pokémon treats (two of the more popular treats known as PokéBlocks and Poffins) or as ingredients in the standard Pokémon foods where they were used to add flavor to the food in order to make it more appealing to Pokémon.

Once everything was packed away (or eaten), the group would have a light supper before spending the rest of the night decorating the house; Harry once again observing the process from his nest of blankets while Gryffin and Spork both snuggled with him beneath the covers. The green-eyed boy would eventually fall asleep on the couch once his body hit the optimal temperature thanks to the extra heat that Gryffin produced.

The next few days would find those living within the Oak's home following a similar routine until the last of the goodies had been baked and the entire house had been decked out (inside and out) with lively Christmas decorations.

The twentieth would mark a change in their holiday routine as those gift boxes for people who lived outside of Pallet Town were loaded into the small cargo hold of the Research Lab's helicopter. Professor Oak and the four ten year olds then climbed into the passenger section of the helicopter and strapped themselves in. Once they were all situated, one of Professor Oak's aides flew them into Celadon City. Harry spent the entire three hour flight with his nose glued to the window he was seated beside; his eyes eagerly drinking in the bird's eye view of the Kanto Region.

Upon their arrival in Celadon City, the six travelers collected the gift boxes from the cargo hold and carried them from the top of the building where they had landed down to the ground floor where Pokémon Air (a Kanto based commercial shipping company) had their main offices. The dozens of packages they'd brought with them were soon weighed by an attendant and the calculated shipping fees paid by Professor Oak before they were summarily shipped off to their intended recipients via an assortment of large bird Pokémon.

The most startling and fascinating thing Harry noted about the chosen shipping method was the fact that each large bird Pokémon (most of them at least as tall as an adult male human) was being ridden by a delivery person. The idea that there were creatures in this world that were large and strong enough to fly with a passenger on their backs was a rather exciting prospect for the green-eyed Pokémon Speaker. Harry loved to fly, after all, and the knowledge that he wasn't as land-bound as he'd originally feared he was once he learned his beloved Firebolt had not survived the trip through the Veil of Death (at least not as a broom, in any case) made him very happy.

After the last of the packages had been shipped off, Professor Oak's aide wandered off to pick up those supplies that the townsfolk needed while Professor Oak and the four pre-teens ate the light lunch that Ms. Ketchum had packed for them. Once they had finished eating, Professor Oak escorted the quartet of ten year olds to the Celadon Department Store so that they could do their Christmas shopping.

"Alright, you four; I have a few errands that I need to run," Professor Oak stated as they stepped inside the lobby of the Dept. Store. "I'm going to trust the four of you to stay out of trouble and stick together until I return to pick you up around three-thirty; that will give you about four hours to get your shopping done. If you're interested in exploring the city, we can do that together after I've finished my errands as I'd prefer that the four of you not wander about the city alone since none of you have Pokémon with you to protect you right now."

The four kids were quick to assure him that they wouldn't leave the building without him. The moment he was gone, the four of them headed for the lifts at the back of the lobby as they discussed their game plan for conquering the terror that was shopping.

"You've been here before, right?" Luna inquired as she lopped her arm through Daisy's. "Which floor would you recommend that we start on?"

"There are only four floors of shops," Daisy replied as they reached the lifts. "The Trainer's Market and the PokéGear Shop are on the second floor, the TV Game Shop and the TM Shop are on the third floor, Wiseman Gifts and Flora's Fragrances and Fripperies are on the fourth floor, and lastly, the Drug Store and Arnold's Apparel are on the fifth floor. There's also a small rooftop square that has a nice view of the city and several vending machines. And there's two ways we can go about our shopping."

"We can either start from the bottom and work our way up to the top where we can spend any extra time we have up on the rooftop square or we can start on the fifth floor and work our way back down so that we finish we can just return to the lobby and wait for Gramps."

"Let's start from the bottom," Harry suggested as his thoughts immediately flew to the promised rooftop view. "That way we can spend a little time on the roof picking out the places we'd like to see after Professor Oak returns for us."

"That's fine with me," Dudley agreed with a shrug. "Although, what's the difference between the Trainer Shop and the PokéGear Shop? Don't they just sell the same things?"

"The Trainer Shop sells products intended for Pokémon use, much like your normal PokéMart, while the PokéGear Shop sells supplies and equipment for Trainers such as PokéTech, Pokémon and Tourist Guides, camping gear, and other specialty items," Daisy explained as she led their group towards the stairs instead of bothering with the lifts (to save time since the lifts were rather slow). "And while some of the stuff they carry requires you to have a Pokémon License or they won't sell it to you, they do carry several non-restricted items."

"How do you know which stuff requires a license?" Harry asked as they reached the second floor.

"Everything that requires a Pokémon License to purchase has a stylized red and white PokéBall stamped on the box or on the label in order to mark it or it is locked up in a case behind the cashier. They also usually keep the non-restricted items in one section of the store where they are easy to find."

After that explanation, the four pre-teens split up into two groups to browse through the two stores on that level; Luna and Daisy going off together in one direction while Harry sort of tagged along after Dudley. The two boys mostly just wandered aimlessly through the PokéGear Shop (Dudley drooling over their high-tech PokéTech) before they ended up in the small section of non-restricted merchandise. They spent a few minutes digging through what they had but didn't find anything that leapt out at them as an ideal gift for anyone on their Christmas Lists.

The two of them would then head over to the Trainer Shop where they headed straight for the Pokémon food and treat isle in order to pick up a few specialized treats for their Pokémon (Harry also purchasing extra treats for those Pokémon that he had worked with most often over the past few weeks; like Professor Oak's Eevee and the trio of Starter Pokémon whose development he was documenting for Professor Oak). They quickly paid for their selections and then headed to the stairs to wait for the girls so they could head up to the next level together.

The time spent on the third floor was even shorter as the four of them stuck together to browse through the TV Game Shop while Daisy purchased a couple of games for Gary and Ash (at Ms. Ketchum's behest). Harry sneakily had Luna distract Dudley just before they left that floor; so he could purchase Dudley a hand-held game that was similar to Tetris – only it dropped PokéBerries instead of blocks. The four of them would then spend close to an hour and a half on the fourth floor as they once again split into gender based groups before they met back and switched their groups around so that they could buy gifts for each other.

Harry managed to find something for almost everyone on his list in Wiseman Gifts; picking up some Pokémon action figures and posters for Ash and Gary, a Jigglypuff Doll for Daisy, a horned Nidoran (the male of that species) Doll for Luna, some blank steel and brass keys with different stylized key heads as a gag gift for Dudley, and a stained glass window ornament of a Sunkern and Sunflora for Ms. Ketchum. In Flora's Fragrances and Fripperies, he also picked up printed hair ribbons for Luna and Daisy (male Nidorans for Luna and Jigglypuffs for Daisy), a pendant with a Mr. Mime on it for Ms. Ketchum, and a pair of brass cuff links and a tiepin shaped like an Eevee for Professor Oak.

On the final floor, Harry would purchase a pair of dark brown slippers with Digletts on them for Professor Oak, a shirt with a Hitmonchan (the Punching Pokémon) and another with Hitmonlee (the Kicking Pokémon) on it for Dudley, and a shirt with a Nidoking on it for Luna from Arnold's Apparel. Once all four of them had finished their shopping, they returned to Wiseman Gifts to have all of the things they'd purchased gift wrapped in the store's holiday section; each of them picking out a different theme of wrapping paper, name tags, and ribbons.

Harry chose to have his gifts done up in flying Pokémon (a different bird for each recipient). Luna chose to have her gifts all wrapped in the same design; a shimmering green paper with different colored PokéBall ornaments on it. Dudley had each of his gifts (regardless of who it was for) in a different paper. And Daisy chose to have all of her gifts wrapped in bright red paper that had hand-sized portraits of the Kanto Starter Pokémon framed in Christmas Wreaths while the ones she had picked up on behalf of Ms. Ketchum were wrapped in dark blue paper with Articuno and snowflakes.

Their purchases were then tucked into Dudley's backpack (though Harry still couldn't figure out how they all fit in there since this world didn't actually have magic) that he'd brought specifically to hold their gifts so that they wouldn't have to lug them around after they'd purchased them. The four of them then headed up to the rooftop square where Harry and Dudley split the cost of buying four lemonades between the two of them. Drinks in hand, they meandered over to the edge of the roof to look out over Celadon City.

"It looks a little bit like Greater Whinging; only smaller and less polluted," Dudley commented as they took in the view.

"It's not quite as crowded and there are fewer cars on the street," Harry added as he fearlessly leaned over the wall that ran around the edge of the building so he could look straight down while he tried to ignore the shiver that raced down his spine as the cold wind slipped beneath his clothes. "There's far more people on bikes though; I wonder why that is."

"Cycling Road is just to the west of Celadon City and all traffic using the roadway is limited to bikes, mopeds, and motorcycles; though there is a strict weight limit allowed when it comes to motorcycles," Daisy answered as she pointed off to where they could see a series of concrete roads interspersed with strips of grass and lakes. "The reason for those restrictions is because the grade of the road is fairly steep; making it hard for those heading south to stop. It is also dangerous for those coming up the hill to stop anywhere outside of the designated rest stops because the climb is so steep that they risk sliding backwards if they did."

"Sounds like it would be fun to travel down that road but a real pain to head back up it," Dudley quipped as they spent a few minutes watching ant-sized dots racing down one side and crawling slowly up the other.

"What happens if someone crashes or pops a tire?" Harry inquired as he wondered if racing down Cycling Road would feel anything like racing on his Firebolt.

"There are repair stations situated along the entire stretch and there are certified repairmen and policemen that patrol Cycling Road regularly to deal with situations like that."

"How do they keep pedestrians from sneaking onto the road?" Luna asked as she stood with her eyes closed and her head tipped back; the blind witch simply enjoying the feel of the weak winter sunlight dancing over her face.

"There are security guards stationed at every entry and exit point and they detain those without proper transportation. The entire road is also blocked off with high fences that are designed in such a way that they are impossible for anyone to climb over or slip through. Those people that somehow do slip through are usually caught by the officers that patrol the road all day long and given steep fines to discourage them from attempting to access the road on foot a second time."

The quartet would remain on the rooftop (with Daisy pointing out places of interest) until the cold finally became too much for Harry to ignore. The group then hurried down the flight of stairs that led up to the rooftop from the fifth floor before they caught the lift back down to the first floor. A quick check of the time revealed that they still had another half an hour before they could expect Professor Oak to pick them up, so they camped out on one of the benches in the lobby and spent that time people watching.

After they'd been sitting there for around ten minutes, Harry excused himself to use the restroom. He'd barely finished emptying his bladder and was heading for the sink to wash his hands when he unexpectedly found himself accosted by a man that was dark in both demeanor and coloring. The man had not hesitated to latch onto Harry's left wrist with one hand while he took hold of Harry's chin with his other hand in order to tip the ten year old's face upwards. At the man's feet, a cougar-like Pokémon sat and growled out a single annoyed comment.

"_That scrawny human smells nothing like your progeny, master._"

"Your coloring matches but your eyes and age are all wrong," the man all but hissed; his tone angry and accusatory – as if he blamed Harry for not being the person that he had thought he was.

"Sorry," Harry automatically offered as he tried to pull his arm free in order to get the man out of his personal space; taking care to focus only on the man least he end up speaking to the Pokémon by accident. After another two heartbeats, when the man still hadn't released Harry, he calmly requested, "Would you mind letting me go, mister? I really dislike it when strange men manhandle me."

The man reluctantly complied; as if he hoped that by holding onto Harry, he would magically turn into the person that he had mistaken Harry for. Harry acknowledged the man's compliance with a sharp nod before he stepped around him and proceeded to wash his hands. The green-eyed wizard could feel the man's gaze on him the entire time and Harry ignored him right up until he'd turned off the water; briefly catching the man's dark eyes in the mirror before dropping his gaze down to meet the eyes of the cougar-like Pokémon.

He then turned away from the mirror, grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser, and quickly dried his hands before he exited the bathroom. The man's gaze remained glued his back until the door swung shut behind him and the hollow numbness in Harry's chest and his memories told him that he should be wary of the man. He would soon forget all about the strange encounter when Professor Oak arrived just a few minutes after Harry had exited the restroom and before the man followed him out.

After confirming that all four of them had found gifts for everyone on their list, Professor Oak ushered the four children back out into the snow. The first place that Professor Oak took them to see was the Celadon Fountain that sat in the large square outside of the Celadon Mall. The fountain stood over fifteen feet tall and was close to thirty-feet wide and was made up of two dozen Pokémon statues and several large basins. It was currently not running (the fountain shut off due to the freezing temperatures) but it still looked beautiful covered in ice and snow.

Professor Oak would then take them to the Celadon Pokémon Gym where they were given a tour of the vast indoor gardens that made up the Battle Arena of the Gym. He even introduced them to the gym's current leader, Erik, and his seven year old daughter, Erika. Once they left the Gym, the five of them briefly watched the ongoing construction of the future Celadon Game Corner (a casino) and Harry couldn't help but wonder why the construction crew was still working so close to Christmas and in the cold weather. The very last place Professor Oak took them was the Celadon Mansion (where the Celadon Mayor lived) where they were once again given a tour of the building.

At the end of that tour (which ended with a cup of hot tea and a light supper in the lobby with the Mayor's mother and an old friend of Professor Oak's, much to Harry's pleasure), the five of them headed back to the helicopter. Professor Oak's Aide was already there, loading the supplies he'd purchased into the cargo hold, when they arrived and Professor Oak instructed the children to get in (to get them out of the cold) while he helped his aide finishing loading the copter. Ten minutes later, they were headed back to Pallet Town and Harry once again spent the flight with his eyes glued to the passing landscape.

When the arrived back at the Lab, Professor Oak sent the four ten year olds on ahead while he helped his aide unload the supplies. The quartet would be greeted by a small mob of Pokémon the moment they set foot outside of the Lab; all four of them laughing at the slightly rowdy greeting they were given. The children then grabbed a pair of the snow sleds that were kept in a small wooden bin outside the Lab during winter months and doubled up on them so that they could race the Pokémon to the bottom of the hill; the sleds a much safer (and faster) method of getting to the bottom of the hill since the stairs iced were iced over).

Once they came to a stop (in a pile of snow that served as a safety net to prevent them from ending up on the road), they stacked the two sleds near the base of the stairs (to be hauled back to the top by the next person to climb the hill). All four of them then trudged through the snow towards the Oak Residence. The moment they set food inside of the house, they were hit with the scent of freshly made hot chocolate, roasted chestnuts, and fruitcake (Ms. Ketchum had obviously spent part of the day baking once more).

"Did you get me a present?" Gary demanded as planted himself directly in their path the moment the door had swung closed behind them.

"I don't know, were we supposed to?" Daisy lightly teased as she picked her brother up and swung him around.

"Yes," Gary declared in between giggles.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see, then; won't you?"

"Meanie-head!" Gary announced before he blew a raspberry at his sister.

The childish insult drew snickers and laughs from all four pre-teens and the three world travelers left Daisy to tickle an apology out of her brother. Harry made a bee-line for the couch where his pile of thick blankets waited for him on the side closest to the fireplace while Luna claimed Dudley's backpack so she could set the presents under the tree with the others that were already there and Dudley slipped into the kitchen to snag them all some hot chocolate. Harry had barely burrowed into his nest of blankets before he found himself besieged by all three of his Pokémon plus both of Luna's.

Gary and Ash would both curl up under the blankets beside him just a few minutes later; both boys happy to share in the warmth radiating from the Pokémon and Gary eager to escape his sister's revenge. Dudley returned with a tray of hot chocolate just seconds after the two boys had settled themselves (with minimal pushing and shoving for once). Ms. Ketchum appeared on his heels with a bowl of freshly roasted chestnuts that she'd prepared over the fire as soon as she'd heard the lab's helicopter passing overhead.

The rest of the night passed pleasantly as they drank hot chocolate, ate roasted chestnuts, and alternated between singing Christmas carols and telling holiday stories.

The twenty-first and twenty-second would see the four pre-teens delivering gift boxes to the other residents of Pallet Town. The twenty-third would then be spent hauling several dozen boxes packed full of single-serving fruitcake loaves up to the Research Lab and handing them out to the numerous Pokémon stored there. The twenty-fourth would see all six children spending most of the day outside playing with the other children that lived in Pallet Town under the watchful eyes of several Pokémon and a few parents while Ms. Ketchum wrapped up a few last minute gifts.

Christmas morning would find the Oaks, Ketchums, misplaced trio, and a dozen or so Pokémon bundled under blankets in the living room exchanging gifts and snacking on breakfast pastries while a snowstorm raged outside.

Harry was quite certain that it was his best Christmas ever as he basked in the smiles and laughter of his family and the two families that had taken the three orphans under their wings.

* * *

**Notes:**

Berries – yes, I am fully aware that the berries in the Pokémon verse are actually just called berries but I wanted a way to differentiate the berries found in the Pokémon world from the berries that Harry and the others grew up with in their former world. Hence, I decided to call them PokéBerries.

Celadon Dept. Store – the PokéGear Shop, Flora's Fragrances and Fripperies, and Arnold's Apparel are all author created shops and were only added in to give the group a few more shops to browse through with items more geared towards humans rather than just Pokémon (like the original stores are). All of the other stores can be considered canon and were based on the Celadon Dept. Store from the Pokémon games (generations I, II, III, &amp; IV).

Handheld Game – the game that Harry picked up for Dudley is loosely based off of Munchlax's Berry Bonanza (an on-line game on the official Pokémon Website) and Tetris. Only, it continuously drops linked berry groups of three, four, and five berries (in random patterns) and you have to guide the berry block to where you want it to fall instead of dropping the berry in the place you want by clicking the mouse. Berries are cleared when you have three or more of the same kind touching each other. As you move up through the levels it adds to the number of berry types dropped and adds existing berry patterns on screen that you have to clear before the screen clears up.

Key Head – (also called the bow) is the top part of a key that a person holds to turn the key.

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	8. Decisions, Licenses, and Starter Pokémon

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Seven: Decisions, Licenses, and Starter Pokémon

_March 03, 2031  
Oak Residence, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

Harry lay contentedly in a thick patch of long grass out behind the Research Lab as he kept one ear on the childish bickering of the trio of Starter Pokémon that he'd been monitoring (read practically raising) for the past four or so months. All three Pokémon were almost to level five and now sounded more like eight year olds instead of the babies they had sounded like when he'd first been introduced to them. The three of them had also grown rather attached to Harry as well but most especially the young Charmander; she still considered him hers.

On top of monitoring the growth and development of that trio, Harry had collected a wealth of information from every single Pokémon that was under Professor Oak's care and from quite a few of the wild Pokémon that lived in the area surrounding Pallet Town. Most of the information that he'd collected had to do with the way that Pokémon saw humans, the habits of the various species with which he had contact with (most of them native to the Kanto and Johto Regions), and the developmental stages that the Pokémon go through as they level up.

Professor Oak was currently preparing the first in a series of scientific articles that he would be publishing on their collective findings over the next six months. In fact, just a week earlier, Professor Oak and his Legal Aide had sat down with Harry in order to write up a formal contract that reflected Harry's agreement with the Professor. Basically, the contract gave Professor Oak the legal claim to their findings (the man had been the one organizing the many tests and experiments that Harry had carried out) and insured that Harry's name would not be published (he was officially listed as one of Professor Oak's Aides).

Additionally, the contract spelled out the compensation that Harry was provided with in return for his services; which boiled down to a rather lucrative hourly wage (his hours meticulously documented for payroll purposes) and a small percentage of the royalties (no more than two percent) that would be made from all published material that referenced his work. Harry tried to protest the amount Professor Oak intended to pay him for all of the hours he'd spent chatting with the Pokémon while 'on the clock' but the man was even more stubborn than Harry and refused to budge. He did, at least, deduct the cost of the medications, medical supplies, and medical services that Harry had needed when he was sick.

The man had also deducted a ridiculously low monthly payment for the room and board that he was supplying for Harry, Dudley, Luna, and their six Pokémon. And the only reason he had agreed to that was because Harry could be just as stubborn. Harry had argued for a higher rent but Professor Oak cited the services that the trio had supplied as the reason why the monthly amount hadn't been higher (the man citing the chores and free babysitting the three of them had done while they'd been staying with the Oaks). The last deduction made was a reasonable stipend for the months of tutoring that Daisy had provided to the trio; both of them agreeing that it was fair for Harry to compensate her for her time.

Once the contract had been signed, Professor Oak made arrangements for a bank account to be set up in Harry's name where his wages would be deposited on the first business day of each month (the first deposit would include his back pay). A second account would be set up with the Pokémon League when he applied for his Trainer's License near the end of March. That second account was intended for the prize money he potentially earned or paid out through Trainer Battles, Gym Battles, Pokémon Contests, and any other official Pokémon League Challenges that he participated in. All Trainers were provided with such an account the moment their Training License Applications were processed to reduce the chances of Trainers being mugged for their prize money.

Harry was drawn out of his mental reflections at that point when he heard Luna addressing him in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "Harry, it is time for us to sit down and decide which path we will set our feet upon."

A soft sigh escaped Harry's lips before he reluctantly climbed to his feet and made his way free of the tall grass so that he could join Luna and Dudley in the open. The moment he sat down, his three charges seemed to appear from out of thin air so that they could perch upon his person; Charmander in his lap, Squirtle on his right shoulder, and Bulbasaur on his head.

"What do you _see_ us doing, Luna?" Harry quietly inquired once the trio of Pokémon had stopped squirming.

"That depends on which dream you choose to seek," Luna replied in a mystical tone that hinted at a multitude of uncertain possibilities.

"I thought we were going to make a group decision?" Dudley asked with more than a little confusion.

"We could but if we did that, then Harry would allow himself to be dragged into our dreams instead of making an effort to catch those dreams he's been ignoring all of his life."

Harry blinked in surprise at Luna's answer before he stated, "I want both of you to be happy."

"And we need you to seek your own happiness instead of settling for what we want," Luna insisted in a knowing tone that made Harry feel like he was five years old. "You are allowed to be happy outside of the happiness our happiness will bring you. There is no reason for you to keep punishing yourself for things that were outside of your control by denying yourself the things that you desire."

Harry dropped his gaze to the Pokémon in his lap as he considered Luna's words. He then spent several minutes thinking about some of the old dreams he'd had growing up and the newer ones that had been birthed since they'd been stranded in what they'd taken to calling the PokéWorld. The one dream that had remained constant between the two worlds was that he longed for a family; his family. It was also the one dream he'd pretty much given up on but that didn't make him want it any less. And while he'd come to see both Dudley and Luna as family, he still felt like there was something or rather someone missing.

In truth, there were many someones missing.

Remus. Tonks. Little Teddy. Sirius…

Harry sucked in a sharp breath and froze as hope blossomed anew within his heart at the thought of his godfather. He had wondered if Sirius might have ended up in the PokéWorld like they had once or twice but he'd ignored the possibility since the chances of finding him were fairly low. He had also subconsciously avoided thinking about Sirius because if he failed, it would leave him rather hollow and losing Sirius twice would hurt – even if it was just an impression of grief based off of his memories of the first time he'd lost his godfather.

Now that he'd actually given some serious (no pun intended) thought to actually going out and looking for his godfather, Harry couldn't get the idea out of his head. He knew starting such a search would be huge and the journey would likely take him all over the world; because there was no way to know where in the PokéWorld Sirius had ended up or how much time had actually passed since he had arrived (if he had arrived). If he did choose to look for Sirius, it would mean dedicating years or possibly decades of his life on what could be nothing more than a wild goose chase.

And yet, as daunting as it sounded, Harry knew it would be worth the effort if he managed to find his godfather.

The moment he acknowledged that, Harry knew he'd made up his mind.

"I want… no, I _need_ to search for Sirius," Harry announced as he glanced up to meet Luna's blind eyes. "No matter how small of a chance there is that he actually ended up in this world when he fell through the Veil of Death, I have to at least try to find him."

"I am not surprised that you chose family over fame in obscurity," Luna airily stated as she smiled at him. "Dudley and I had already agreed that we would accompany you on your journey since you would end up in all kinds of trouble without us there to keep an eye on you; all that remains is for us to determine which road we will take when we leave here."

"We'll need to devise a proper strategy, compile a list of necessary supplies and equipment, and determine how we will fund the search," Dudley added. "The more organized our approach is to the search, the more effective it will be in the long run. We also need to make sure we are as prepared as possible since we'll probably end up covering a lot of ground by foot based upon everything Daisy taught us these past few months."

"Money shouldn't be a problem," Harry mused as his thoughts briefly touched on the contract he'd recently signed. "I can continue doing research for Professor Oak and he said he'd recommend me to some of his colleagues. All three of us can also earn prize money if we participate in the Pokémon League Challenges, Contests, and Events that they sponsor year round."

"If you wish to remain Just Harry, then you must remain nothing more than a simple Researcher," Luna pointed out. "I have _seen_ the Fame you will accumulate if you take the path of a Trainer."

"Yet, being famous would increase the chances of Padfoot learning that I am here in the PokéWorld," Harry countered quietly even as a small part of him emotionlessly mourned the demise of his anonymity. "And I would much rather be famous for being a good Trainer than risk gaining any fame as a talented Researcher since that would make some people question how I found out everything I know."

"And what happens if you slip up and talk to the Pokémon in front of other Trainers?" Dudley asked with a slight frown and Harry figured that he was worrying over what would happen if his ability to speak to the Pokémon became widely known.

"No matter which path we tread, there will come a day when this world knows just how special Harry is," Luna stated as she closed her eyes and tipped her head to one side. "It is only a matter of controlling when and how the world learns of his gift and whether it is on his terms or on the terms of another."

"Joy," Harry deadpanned as he digested Luna's newest revelation. He then pushed the negative thought to the back of his mind in order to focus on more important things. "Come on, I need to return these three sleeping beauties to their shelves and then we can head back to the house to sit down and start planning things out properly."

Over the course of the next eight days, the trio would often be found pouring over maps, writing and rewriting dozens of lists, and throwing together and picking apart all kinds of plans. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the trio was preparing to leave Pallet Town. The adults had expected this day to come but the other children were not happy to know that their new friends would be leaving them. Gary and Ash were mostly just sad that they would be loosing a trio of playmates while Daisy felt as if she was loosing her only chance to see the world.

It would be on the trio's eighth day of planning when Daisy's desire to see the world finally drove her to confront the trio with a request.

"I want to go with you," Daisy proclaimed as she inserted herself into the most recent planning session.

"Um," Dudley hedged as he exchanged a slightly bewildered glance with Harry while Luna began absently humming an unfamiliar tune under her breath.

"Please, I've dreamed of going on a Pokémon Journey since I was five and Daddy began telling me stories about the things he saw and did on his Pokémon Journey."

"We aren't going on a Pokémon Journey, we're… I'm going out there to hunt down information on my godfather in case there is even the smallest chance that he is still alive," Harry disclosed in an attempt to discourage her (not because he didn't like her but because he didn't think she'd want to be dragged around looking for a needle in a haystack).

"I can help," Daisy immediately offered; a hint of desperation coloring her voice.

"We'll be doing a lot of hard travel and end up camping in the wilds most nights. We'll also spend a lot of time combing the streets of every single village, town, and city in each region in search of any hints that someone somewhere has seen or heard of my godfather. We'll probably have to deal with common thieves and petty criminals for information. And we intend to work odd jobs as we go and aim to collect as much prize money as we can from Trainer Battles, Gym Battles, Pokémon Contests, and other Events to fund the search."

"I can still help," Daisy insisted as her desperation turned to determination. "History and geography were always my two best subjects, I've met almost every single one of Gramps' colleagues, and I've memorized the rules for the Pokémon Contests and know what accessories and moves that the judges find appealing. I'm also not afraid of traveling on foot, roughing it, earning a little pocket change to help cover expenses, or dealing with a few shady people."

"We could be gone for years…" Harry hesitantly pointed out as a last ditch effort to dissuade her.

"Most Pokémon Journeys last for years."

"Luna…?"

"I have _seen_ her traveling with us and I have also _seen_ us leaving her behind," Luna promptly answered without actually answering Harry's unasked question. She then pointedly looked right at Harry as she added, "You smile more if you allow her to come with us."

"Dudley…?"

"I'm sure Luna would be happier if Daisy goes with us; that would also mean that we can split up into pairs and cover more ground since it probably wouldn't be safe to search the seedier places alone."

"Does that mean I can go with you?"

Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes for a moment before he replied, "Yes; so long as Professor Oak gives you permission. I don't want your grandfather mad at me when I hope to keep working with him."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you…!" Daisy exclaimed as she sprung a surprise hug on Harry. "I swear you won't regret letting me join you."

It would take four days for Daisy to talk her grandfather into allowing her to travel with the trio and it only took that long because Professor Oak had taken to avoiding her after she'd first asked him; the man reluctant to break her heart by saying no but wishing to keep her home to protect her. In the end, it was the fact that she would be traveling with friends and that Harry would be in regular contact with him that allowed him to permit her to travel as she wished.

The next eight days would pass by in a whirlwind of activity as the four pre-teens prepared for their journey; all of their plans were rewritten to include Daisy and their supply list revised to account for her and her future Pokémon.

When Gary learned that his sister would be leaving with the trio on the fourth day of preparations, he threw a huge temper tantrum that reminded Harry and Dudley of a much younger (and more spoiled) Dudley. After his tantrum, Gary refused to speak to Daisy for two full days before he finally relented when she promised to make him a photo journal of all the Pokémon she saw on their journey. She pointedly did not tell her little brother that she would be making a second photo journal for Ash since she had been an honorary big sister to the other boy for as long as she'd been Gary's sister.

On the twenty-fifth of March, the quartet would take a break from their preparations in order to fill out the applications for the Pokémon Licenses. All four of them would be applying for a Trainer's License with Harry also applying for a Researcher's License at Luna's insistence due to the fact that he still planned to help Professor Oak with his research and potentially work with the man's colleagues in the future. Once they had completed their applications, they handed them off to Professor Oak so they could be processed before they returned to their previous activities.

The last five days of the month would come and go in the blink of an eye and before Harry knew it, Professor Oak was informing the four of them that their licenses had been approved and that it was time for them to come up to the lab to select their Starter Pokémon. Harry had originally intended to list Gryffin as his Starter Pokémon but because he was already at level thirty, he was considered far too strong for a rookie trainer. The same applied to the other five Pokémon that had been birthed from their possessions; the former Deathly Hallows all at level fifty upon their creation and the other two both at level thirty like Gryffin.

* * *

_March 30, 2031  
Oak Residence, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

Harry couldn't help but feel excited as he, Dudley, Luna, and Daisy made their way up the stairs leading up to Professor Oak's Research Lab. He was eager to start looking for Sirius and more than a little curious as to which Starter Pokémon he would end up with for a new partner. The green eyed man-turned-boy had already decided that he was not going to choose one for himself because he didn't think he could pick a favorite Pokémon. Especially not if he had to choose from amongst the trio that he'd practically raised these last five months.

The quartet would reach the top just a few minutes later and they shared a brief grin before they slipped through the door in order to take their first step on what promised to be an epic adventure.

They had barely set foot inside the lobby when they found their way blocked by Professor Oak and a younger man with short, light brown hair that stuck up untidily on his crown. The unfamiliar man was a good eight inches taller than Professor Oak and wore a pair of worn olive green slacks, a rumpled teal shirt, a shorter version of Professor Oak's white lab coat (the pockets over stuffed with notes), brown loafers, and a set of half-moon glasses. The man looked rather unkempt (as if he'd slept in his clothes recently) and he had an aura of absentmindedness that clung to him.

"Good timing," Professor Oak declared as both men turned towards the pre-teens upon hearing the door open. "I'd like to introduce the three of you to Professor Michael Elm; he's a colleague and former student of mine. Michael, you remember my granddaughter, Daisy. To her right is Luna Lovegood and to Luna's right is Dudley Dursley." Professor Oak then paused a moment dropped a hand on Harry's shoulder and drew him forward. "And this is Harry Potter; the young man that I was just telling you about."

"Professor Oak was just telling me the most fascinating story about how you've been helping him with his research for the past five months," Professor Elm stated as he briefly juggled the clipboard he was holding into one hand (nearly dropping it) before he latched onto Harry's left hand and vigorously shook it. "It is so nice to see a boy as young as you taking a real interest in the world around us. I am also rather curious and eager to hear about the super-secret research method that Professor Oak was telling me that you developed; he called it innovative and indispensable."

"Er, it's nice to meet you, sir. Do you also study the relationships between Pokémon and humans?"

"No, I am more interested in a Pokémon's potential so I've made it my goal to learn everything I can about Pokémon Abilities, Pokémon Evolution, and Pokémon Breeding. What about you? Are you following in Professor Oak's footsteps or have you decided to branch out into an entirely new area of research?"

"I've mostly just helped Professor Oak with his projects but he also had me documenting the developmental growth of a trio of Starter Pokémon. I learned quite a bit about how they age with experience rather than just time," Harry replied with more than a little excitement as he recalled the long hours spent watching over the trio of young Pokémon. "Not to mention the relationships between fire, grass, and water types. Did you know that those three types of Pokémon are born with an instinctive dislike of the other two types?"

"Hatched; Pokémon are hatched from eggs, not born live," Professor Elm absently corrected as he scattered a few of his notes around when he dug into his pocket to grab a blank sheet of paper in which to take more notes on. "Could you tell me how you learned about the instincts of those three types? Do they retain those prejudices throughout their entire life cycle or do they grow out of it with age? How far does the dislike actually go? Do they fear one of the other types or do they just not like them? Can they be trained to set aside their dislike?"

"You know, he sounds almost as excited as Professor Oak did when we first met him and he learned about your ability," Dudley commented around a snort of amusement. "I wonder how long it will be until you learn how to ask a dozen or two rapid-fire questions without taking a breath?"

"Probably at least a year or two and I'm going to have to practice loads before I get it right; you'll let me practice on you, right?" Harry fired back with a grin.

"Harry, will you give me permission to fill Professor Elm in on the details of your ability and show him a couple of the videos that I took of the various tests I had you perform to offer proof of your ability?" Professor Oak requested while a slightly confused but still very eager Professor Elm expectantly waited for someone to answer his questions.

"Luna, what do you _see_?" Harry asked as he turned towards his self-adopted sister.

"I have _seen_ no harm from him knowing that you can speak with the Pokémon," Luna replied dreamily as she turned her blind eyes towards Professor Elm. "He will make great strides in his chosen fields of study within the next two years if he chooses to accept your help with his research."

"What did you mean when you said he can speak to the Pokémon? All Pokémon understand human speech."

"You can tell him if you want, Professor Oak," Harry answered as he shook his head and smiled over the way Luna sort of jumped the gun on revealing his ability. "Do you think, maybe, we could collect our Starter Pokémon first though? That way we can spend a little time getting to know them before we leave while I stick around to answer any questions Professor Elm might have when the two of you are done watching the first video."

"Of course," Professor Oak replied before he abruptly turned to his colleague. "That reminds me; do you have the trio of Johto Starter Pokémon that I asked you to bring with you, Michael?"

"Yes, I have them here with me," Professor Elm replied as he dug a trio of PokéBalls out from beneath the notes in his left pocket and abruptly passed them over to Professor Oak.

"Let's move upstairs so I can document the current Stats of these three and confirm that they're in perfect health before I had them over to their new Trainers," Professor Oak stated as he automatically began heading towards the door that led into the lab.

Once upstairs, the three PokéBalls would be expanded to full size and placed in the wheeled machine that sat in the middle of the room alongside an additional five PokéBalls. Twin sheets of electric blue light thin as paper sprang into existence above and beside each PokéBall the moment it clicked into place; one sheet parallel to the PokéBalls and the other perpendicular. Both sheets then passed through the PokéBalls (one moving horizontally and the other vertically) while the super computer that took up the two northern walls of the lab whirred to life as the information of the newly examined Pokémon was listed on the large monitor.

"Here are your new Pokémon Licenses," Professor Oak stated as he passed out five plastic cards after he'd finished reviewing the information provided. "They will also double as credit cards linked to your Trainer Accounts and, Harry; your Researcher's License has been linked to your payroll account." The professor then gathered up four slightly bulky devices that looked similar to hand-held game consuls (two red and two blue) that he promptly passed out to the quartet; the girls getting red ones and the boys blue. "And here are your new PokéDexes."

"How do these work?" Dudley asked as he flipped the PokéDex he'd been handed over a couple of times.

"To start, you need to turn the PokéDex on and insert your Pokémon Licenses into the input slot here in order to register the PokéDex in your name," Daisy instructed as she demonstrated the process using her PokéDex. "Then you just need to answer a few short questions about your preferences before the PokéDex is ready to go. Your license will then remain in the PokéDex's digital inventory; which will prevent it from becoming lost or stolen. If you ever need to replace your PokéDex because it becomes obsolete or because it is damaged, you just have to electronically transfer your license to the new device. Oh, and as a built in fail-safe, the PokéDex will eject all of the Licenses you've stored in it if the digital inventory is ever corrupted or if the device is damaged beyond repair."

The others were quick to follow her lead with Harry inserting his Researcher's License after he'd finished answering the handful of questions that adjusted the control options to his personal preferences and set the device with the current date and time. Once he'd finished with that, he returned his attention to Professor Oak as he waited for the man to tell them how they were supposed to go about collecting or choosing their Starter Pokémon.

"Are the four of you ready now?" Professor Oak asked; his tone laced with excitement and pride as his eyes lingered on his granddaughter. All four of them eagerly nodded in return. "Very well, then, ladies first; just step up to the table and press the blue buttons to view the Pokémon contained in each PokéBall and the red button to release the PokéBall once you've made your choice. Once you've chosen your Starter Pokémon, you will need to register it using your PokéDex."

"You can go first, Daisy; I already know which one is mine," Luna stated as she gave the suddenly nervous ten year old a slight push to get her to step up to the device.

As Daisy walked around the machine, she pushed each of the blue buttons until there were eight holograms of eight different Starter Pokémon hovering above the device. Four of the images were easily recognizable to Harry as an Eevee, a Charmander, a Squirtle, and a Bulbasaur and part of him was not surprised to recognize the latter three as the trio that he'd watched grow in experience over the past five months. He also recognized the yellow Pokémon as a Pikachu (the Mouse Pokémon) though he'd never actually worked with one previously; the Pokémon in question must have been delivered with the recent shipment of Starter Pokémon that the Laboratory had received.

The other three Pokémon were completely new to him though.

The first one had a pale green body similar in build to a Bulbasaur (but without the plant growth on its back), a ring of leaf green buds around its neck, a large green leaf on its head, a stubby little tale, and ruby eyes with dark ruby pupils and white sclera. The second Pokémon looked something like a cross between a shrew and a mole with dark teal fur dotted with large, red ovals on its back, cream colored under belly, and eyes that were still sealed shut. The last Pokémon looked like a stocky little crocodile with blue leather-like skin, red ridge plates down its back and on its tail, a yellow 'v' on its chest, and red eyed with black pupils and white sclera.

After a brief moment of indecision, Daisy selected the female Charmander as her Pokémon. As soon as she ejected the Charmander's PokéBall from the machine, Daisy flipped open her PokéDex and activated the scan feature in order to register the Charmander's PokéBall (and therefore the Pokémon inside of it) under her Trainer ID. Once she confirmed the registration was complete, she clicked the release button on the PokéBall to let Charmander out so that she could also demonstrate how to use the PokéDex to identify a Pokémon.

Unfortunately, the little Charmander did not wish to cooperate for her demonstration. The moment she was released, the little Lizard Pokémon attached herself to Harry and tried to hide beneath his shirt. Harry sighed softly as he pulled the Pokémon out from under his shirt and cradled her in his arms in order to hold her still so Daisy could demonstrate the identification function of the PokéDex. Daisy smiled at him but Harry could tell that she was a little hurt by the fact that her chosen Pokémon had fled to him the moment she had been released from her PokéBall.

Pointing the camera lens built into the backside of the PokéDex at Charmander, Daisy initiated the identification process which caused a cone shaped beam of light to engulf Charmander for a brief moment. As the beam withdrew back into the camera lens, a digitalized image of Charmander appeared on the screen of the PokéDex. The device then let out a soft beep before a computerized voice provided the Charmander's information.

"Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. A flame burns on the tip of its tail from birth. It is said that a Charmander dies if its flame ever goes out."*

As soon as the PokéDex fell silent, Daisy stepped forward to collect the Charmander but the little fire Pokémon refused to release her hold on Harry's shirt. Harry wanted to feel guilty for the second flash of hurt he noticed in Daisy's eyes but settled for working on getting the Lizard Pokémon to accept Daisy as her new Trainer since he couldn't feel guilt.

"_What's wrong?_" Harry gently asked the Pokémon in his arms while he ignored the way Professor Elm's eyes snapped over to him the moment he heard him speaking in Pokémon Speech.

"_I don't want to go with her._"

"_Why?_"

"_I want to stay with you._"

"_I can't be your Trainer._"

"_Why not? Did you pick that blockhead or seedbrain instead of me?_" Charmander demanded; the fire Pokémon referring to the Squirtle and Bulbasaur (respectively) that Harry had been working with alongside of her.

"_No, I could never choose between the three of you because I like you all equally._"

"_I still don't want to go. Your lap is mine._"

"_Daisy will be traveling with us and if you choose her as your Trainer, then you will be traveling with us too and you can still curl up on my lap sometimes,_" Harry sneakily pointed out; his Slytherin side coming in very handy when it comes to getting stubborn Pokémon (or children) to cooperate. "_She also has a very lovely singing voice and the other Pokémon claim she gives the best massages when she groomed them in the past._"

"_You won't give my lap to the blockhead or the seedbrain?_"

"_No, I won't give your lap to your rivals; but I make no promises about sharing it with my Pokémon._"

"_Okay,_" Charmander agreed as she nuzzled his chin before she twisted in his arms and stretched her little claw tipped paws out towards Daisy.

"She was only worried that I had chosen one of her rivals over her or that I might allow another Pokémon to claim my lap," Harry explained as a much happier Daisy collected her Pokémon. "She was also a little hurt because I had not chosen her to be my Pokémon. I hope you don't mind but I kinda promised her that she could still sit on my lap every once in a while."

"I don't mind," Daisy replied quickly as she hugged Charmander to her chest.

"Hmm, that was one complication I had not considered when I asked you to spend so much time with that particular trio," Professor Oak mused half to himself. "Are the other two just as attached to you, Harry?"

"Yeah, I think they are or at least fairly close. That's one of the reasons why I had asked you if you would pick out a Starter Pokémon for me since there is no way I could chose just one of them without hurting the feelings of the other two."

Professor Oak hummed an acknowledgement as he scribbled down a couple of notes. He then returned his attention to the quartet as he indicated for Luna to choose next. Luna didn't hesitate to collect the PokéBall holding the unfamiliar green Pokémon with the leaf on its head. Dudley then stepped forward to help her register her new Pokémon under her Trainer ID as well as Identify it using her PokéDex.

Just a few seconds later, a familiar computerized voice announced, "Chikorita, the Leaf Pokémon. It uses the leaf on its head to determine the temperature and humidity. It loves to sunbathe."

"Aren't you just a precious little snuggle-buddy-bunny," Luna declared as she let her fingers explore every single inch of her new Pokémon's body.

"_Silly human, Chikorita not bunny,_" Chikorita protested in a light tenor that identified the Pokémon as male.

"_Luna was just complimenting you and letting you know that she finds you huggable,_" Harry explained with an amused grin as he watched the Chikorita trying to keep an eye on both Luna's hands and her face; causing him to continuously twitch and turn in his efforts to satisfy his curiosity.

As soon as he'd opened his mouth, the Chikorita whipped his face around to stare at Harry with wide eyes. It was a look that Harry had grown rather familiar with; one that he had seen on the faces well over a hundred different Pokémon the first time he spoke Pokémon speech in their presence.

"What exactly is going on? Is he just mimicking the Pokémon?" Professor Elm demanded as he continued to glance between the two present Pokémon and Harry.

"No, Harry is actually speaking to the Pokémon in their native dialects," Professor Oak corrected as he smirked at his colleague. "I have ten videos documenting the tests I put him through to confirm that his ability to speak the Pokémon Language is genuine and not a hoax in addition to two interviews I conducted with him about his ability. I'll pull a couple of them out for you to watch once we're finished here."

That was Dudley's cue to pick out his Starter Pokémon and after a spending a few minutes studying the remaining holograms floating above the mobile table, he selected the blue crocodile that they soon learned was a male Totodile (the Big Jaw Pokémon). As soon as Dudley had Registered and Identified his new Pokémon (and nearly lost a few fingers when the Pokémon bit his hand), Professor Oak stepped up to the device holding the remaining selection and turned off their holographic displays before he seemingly plucked one of them from the table at random.

He then snagged hold of Harry's hand and set the chosen PokéBall in his hand as he stated, "I think it best that you take the Cyndaquil; that will give you two fire-type Pokémon that can help keep you warm on cold days and even colder nights. It will also allow you to study all three of the Johto Region Starter Pokémon and compare their growth rates to those of the Kanto Region Starter Pokémon."

Harry nodded as he quickly registered his new Pokémon before releasing it from the PokéBall. Unlike the other Starter Pokémon that had been released (Chikorita and Charmander the only two still out since Dudley hadn't wanted to get bit a second time), Cyndaquil immediately curled itself up into a ball the moment it saw itself surrounded by humans. Harry crouched down beside the timid little thing and activated the identification feature of his PokéDex to hear what it had to say about the little fire-type.

Just a few seconds later, the mechanical voice intoned, "Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon. It is timid and often curls itself up in a ball. If it is angry or surprised, it shoots flames out of its back."

As soon as the machine fell silent, Harry turned it off and tucked it into his pocket before he gave his new Pokémon his complete attention. He then addressed the nervous critter in a gentle tone, "_Hello, little one; you don't have to be afraid._"

"_I don't want to get stepped on,_" the little Cyndaquil retorted in a squeaky little voice that almost made it difficult for Harry to determine the Pokémon's gender.

"_Would you like me to pick you up so you'll be safe?_"

"_I don't want you to squish me,_" was the reply as the Fire Mouse Pokémon unrolled itself just enough to give the impression that it was studying Harry even if its eyes were still sealed shut.

"_I promise that I'll be careful; I have lots of practice holding little Pokémon._"

Two minutes later, Harry was on his feet once more with his new Pokémon (which he'd finally determined was male) carefully cradled in his arms. Once he was comfortably settled, the four newly minted Trainers headed downstairs and out back so they could spend a couple of hours bonding with their new Pokémon while the two Pokémon Professors discussed Harry's ability to communicate to all Pokémon in their native language.

* * *

**Notes:**

Professor Elm's Given Name – due to Professor Elm not having a given name in either the games or the anime (as far as I've been able to confirm), I have assigned him the name Michael for his first name. I almost named him Eugene or Eric but I thought I'd be nice and not given him an alliterative name. If anyone actually knows what Elm's canon first name (if he even has one) is, I'd be willing to trade them a plate of virtual rice-crispy treats for it. Until I'm told otherwise, I'm leaving him as a Michael.

PokéDex Entries – all PokéDex entries will be based off of the PokéDex entries found in the games or the anime; the entry chosen will depend on my personal preferences since I think some of the entries are just plain silly. All PokéDex entries will also be underlined in the story to make them stand out from normal dialogue and Pokémon Speech.

* * *

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes._


	9. of Goodbyes and Journeys

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eight: of Goodbyes and Journeys

_March 30, 2031  
Oak Residence, Pallet Town  
Kanto Region_

"Hey, Harry; do you think you can convince my new Totodile to not bite me each time I let him out?" Dudley requested as the four of them settled onto the swath of short grass that separated the lab from the long grasses where the Pokémon tended to hide. "If I had known he was going to be so snappy, I would have chosen the yellow Pokémon that looked like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit."

"I can try," Harry agreed before he shifted his unnamed Cyndaquil onto his shoulder where he wouldn't be within reach of Totodile's mouth when Dudley held out the PokéBall containing his new aggressive Pokémon. "And we both know that if you'd chosen the Pikachu instead of the Totodile, you'd have been electrocuted instead of bit."

"Shut it, you," Dudley mock growled. "You're the one who's supposed to attracted trouble just by breathing, not me."

"I decided to spread the wealth," Harry quipped as he tossed Dudley a smirk before he released his cousin's Totodile from the PokéBall.

The moment the Pokémon had fully materialized he opened his mouth wide and ran straight for his trainer. Harry snorted in amusement before he snagged the Pokémon under the arms from behind and lifted him off the ground. Totodile's little feet churned air for nearly a full minute before he realized that he was no longer moving. Confused, the Pokémon tipped his head to the side and peered down at the ground.

"_I can fly?_" Totodile gasped as he tried to flip himself forward to touch the ground with his paws.

"_I'm afraid not; I'm merely holding you off the ground,_" Harry countered around another snort. "_My cousin, who is your new Trainer, would prefer it if you didn't bite him every time he let you out of your PokéBall._"

"_How am I supposed to train if I can't bite?_" Totodile demanded as he twisted around so he could stare at Harry with one eye. "_And where is the Totodile that spoke to me?_"

"_You're the only Totodile here and I am the one that was talking to you,_" Harry corrected and he couldn't help but chuckle when the young Pokémon brought his paws up to scrub at his eyes as if to make certain he wasn't seeing (or hearing) things after seeing a human speak to him in Pokémon Speech. "_As for training… we'll face plenty of wild Pokémon once we start traveling and you can train with them. You can also train with our other Pokémon._"

"_I can only bite Pokémon?_"

"_Uh… if you need something to chew on, we can get you some sticks or something. Just don't bite any people unless Dudley, your Trainer, says it is okay. And no biting any Pokémon outside of battle and training._"

"_Okay,_" the Totodile readily (if a little sadly) agreed; the promise of chew toys and future battles satisfying him for the moment even if he was disappointed to be restricted.

Harry set him back down on the ground at that point before he tossed the empty PokéBall at Dudley as he stated, "He's agreed to not bite people unless you specifically tell him to. He's also very eager to battle and we'll need to get him a few chew toys or sticks to gnaw on since I guess that's a form of training for him."

"Cool, thanks," Dudley replied as he dug a large rock out of the ground and rolled it towards his Totodile; who automatically picked the rock up in his mouth and began chewing on it. "Maybe he's just teething?"

"I think he's actually building up the muscles in his jaw; Totodiles are supposed to be able to crush anything they put in their mouth," Daisy corrected as she massaged the happily purring Charmander curled up in her lap. "That's why they are called the Big Jaw Pokémon and not the Crocodile Pokémon."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I guess that means I'll be going through a lot of chew toys during our training."

"_Ooo, I like him; I'm going to keep him,_" Totodile proclaimed as he promptly walked up and headbutted Dudley in the stomach.

"Oomph, what was that for?" Dudley gasped as he placed one hand on Totodile's head to keep him from headbutting him a second time while the other rubbed his now tender stomach.

"He likes you and just announced his plans to keep you," Harry explained as he struggled to keep a straight face right up until Dudley made a face at him in response to his translation which made Harry and both girls break down into laughter.

Once he calmed down, Harry would spend the next two hours on his back with his Cyndaquil perched on his chest while he stroked the timid Pokémon's back and coaxed him into chatting with him. Luna spent those same two hours on her side, curled up around her Chikorita (which she'd named Snuggles); both witch and Pokémon sleeping as they basked together in the morning sun. Dudley and Daisy, on the other hand, spent the time training their Pokémon in an effort to bond with them; going so far as to hold a few mock battles so that Dudley could get a feel for how to direct his Pokémon in an actual battle.

Several rocks, numerous sticks, and a couple of unlucky older Pokémon that teased the aggressive Totodile were also gnawed on in between battles.

At the end of those two hours, Harry would be called inside to answer a few questions that Professor Elm still had about his PokéTongue (the name Luna had given to his ability to speak and understand the Pokémon Language). By the time the man had finished with him, Harry had signed another employment contract (almost identical to the contract he had with Professor Oak – minus all of the little deductions) with Professor Elm. He was given his first official assignment on behalf of the Elm Research Center (the name of Professor Elm's lab) before his signature even dried; to gather as much information as he could from the Pokémon in regards to their reproductive cycle.

Harry then spent a few minutes saying goodbye to Squirtle and Bulbasaur (telling them to find a strong Trainer so his Pokémon could battle against them some day) while Professor Oak programmed his number (for both home and the lab) and Professor Elm's number into Harry's PokéDex so that he could contact either of them whenever he needed. Harry then hurried back downstairs to stick his head out of the back door before he let loose a sharp whistle to get the others' attention.

"Hey, guys; I'm finally done," Harry announced as his earlier excitement returned now that it was almost time for them to officially start their journey.

"Time to say goodbye to everyone, then," Daisy added; her tone a mixture of excitement and sadness (the latter strictly due to the fact that she would be leaving her family behind in order to seek the adventures she longed to have).

"We're going to have so much fun," Luna reminded her fellow female as they promptly returned their Pokémon to their PokéBalls.

Luna then looped her arm through Daisy's and began guiding her back into the Lab so that she could say goodbye to her grandfather. As the four of them made their way through the Laboratory, they called out fond farewells to all of the aides that were working away at their terminals. All too soon, the quartet was back in the lobby where Professor Oak was waiting for them beside the door while Professor Elm's attention remained glued to the television where yet another one of Harry's test videos was playing.

Professor Oak engulfed Daisy in a tight hug as he leaned down to murmur, "I'm going to miss you, Daisy-bud."

"I'll miss you too, Gramps," Daisy replied even as she blushed in response to what was obviously a childhood nickname.

"Make sure you remember to update your PokéDex regularly and send me the data you collect each time you reach a new city. I expect you to capture plenty of wild Pokémon so you can send me a few new Pokémon to study as well."

"I will," Daisy promised with a laugh as she reached up to kiss his cheek. "Don't forget to spend time with Gary."

"I'll try not to," Professor Oak promised in return before he released his granddaughter and turned to the trio. "The three of you will be missed as well and you are more than welcome to return here anytime you need a short break from your travels."

"Thank you, Professor; we'll miss you too," Dudley replied as he shook Professor Oak's hand.

"We will see you in June," Luna added as she boldly kissed Professor Oak's cheek.

"I look forward to it," Professor Oak stated as he gave Luna brief hug; treating her like another granddaughter. He then turned to Harry and instructed, "I expect to receive regular reports from you as well, young man."

"At least once a week," Harry agreed with a grin since the man had at one point come close to demanding hourly updates but Daisy had nipped that in the bud.

"I am also trusting you to take care of my granddaughter for me."

"I will try, sir," Harry confirmed after he'd snuck a brief glance at Daisy to gauge her reaction to her grandfather's request and his willingness to comply with said request. He was pleased to note that she didn't seem angry though she did look rather exasperated with both of them.

"Thank you," Professor Oak replied as he fondly ruffled Harry's hair before he addressed the group as a whole one last time. "Good luck out there."

"Bye, Professor," Harry, Luna, and Dudley all crowed in unison as they filed out of the door a few heartbeats before Daisy replied with, "Bye, Gramps; I love you."

Just before they headed down the stairs leading into the valley, Daisy pulled out the digital camera that her grandfather had given to her just a few days after he agreed to let her join the others and took several pictures of the valley. She would also stop halfway down the hill and take several pictures of the Lab. Once they reached her house, Daisy took a few pictures of the front of her house before she tucked the camera away as the four of them trooped inside.

"Are you really leaving today?" Gary demanded as he ran up and wrapped his arms around his sister's waist.

"Yeah, we're really leaving today," Daisy answered as she hugged him tightly in return. "Are you going to be a big boy and make sure Gramps takes care of himself while I'm gone?"

"Do I have to?"

"Only when he forgets."

"Okay."

While Daisy was spending a few last minutes with her brother, the others headed upstairs to finish packing any thing that they might have forgotten. Harry stepped into the guest room he'd called home for close to half a year and felt more than a little nostalgic as he recalled all of the nights that he and Dudley had sat awake and just talked. No topic had been left unexplored and they both had learned quite a bit about one another on top of clearing the air between them. Those talks had helped bring the two of them closer together and Harry could honestly say he now saw Dudley as his brother rather than just a cousin.

"You know, it's kind of funny," Dudley commented from just behind Harry as he too took in the room they had shared for around five months. "It seems like just yesterday we were waking up in the middle of the grass and yet it feels like we've always lived here with the Oaks. Pallet Town feels like…"

"Home, like this is where we belong," Harry finished when Dudley had trailed off.

"Home," Dudley agreed a little sadly. After a few minutes of silence, Dudley hesitantly asked, "Do you ever miss… you know, everything?"

"I miss some things and more than a few someones but otherwise, no; I'm happier here."

"I can't help but feel guilty and ashamed because I don't miss that world; not really. What I miss is what we could have had and what might have been had things been different. We could have been brothers growing up. I just wish…"

"If wishes were stars, then the night sky would be bright enough to rival the sun," Harry murmured with a wistful smile as he turned to meet Dudley's gaze. "If we had been close growing up and if Petunia and Vernon had loved us both, then I don't think we would appreciate what we found here nearly as much as we do. We have been given a rare treasure as we have a second chance to start anew and I don't think there's anything wrong with being happy with our new lives."

"Do you really believe that? Or is that just what you tell yourself you believe because you can't feel any pain?"

"Probably a little of both," Harry admitted with a little shrug. "I can still remember what it was like to be hurt, angry, and grieving but there are times when the numbness drowns out everything. I can even think angry thoughts or speak words that would be hurtful; I just can't pour any emotions into them to give them that bitter bite that stings so much."

"You sound like a poet," Dudley snorted as the seriousness from just a few moments earlier vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Come on, we should get moving before the girls barge in here and start ordering us about because we're not ready to go."

Rolling his eyes, Harry made his way to the half of the guest room that he had claimed and spent several minutes checking every potential hiding place for anything he might have missed. He would carefully pack the small handful of scattered items he'd collected into his dark red backpack before he slung the bag around onto his back and slipped his arms through the straps. Harry then grabbed the silver saddle-bag-pack (filled with all of their cooking equipment and supplies) and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'll check the bathroom for anything we missed if you'll deal with the food and stuff that needs to be packed," Dudley offered as he shouldered his dark blue and gold pack a heartbeat after Harry.

"Sure; are you going to check on Luna to see if she needs any help when you're done with that?"

"Yep."

Harry nodded in response to show he heard him before he bounded down the stairs and headed into the kitchen where he found a tearful Ms. Ketchum sealing freshly baked cookies, fruitcakes, and dinner rolls into sturdy plastic containers that would keep them fresh and relatively safe. The moment she realized that she had an audience, Ms. Ketchum hurried brushed the tears from her eyes and pasted a bright smile on her face as she gestured to the large pile of baked goods.

"I wanted to make certain that the four of you would have plenty of snacks and that the Pokémon had lots of treats for the road."

"Our Pokémon are going to be spoiled rotten in next to no time, Ms. Ketchum," Harry fondly complained as he moved further into the kitchen in order to help her finish sealing everything away and start packing the containers into the saddle-pack.

"Harry, couldn't you call me Auntie Delia just this once?" Ms. Ketchum requested; her voice soft and sad as she glanced at him from overtop of the tray of peanut butter cookies she'd been packing up.

"I can't, Ms. Ketchum," Harry replied just as softly as he stared at the box of fruitcakes in his hand for a long minute before he shoved it into the silver pack.

"Will you at least tell me why?"

"I lived with my maternal aunt after my parents died and we didn't really get along. To put it bluntly, my aunt was not a very nice person and she was especially harsh on me when she was still alive. You aren't anything like her. If anything, you're the kind of person I always used to picture my mother would be like if she'd lived long enough to raise me."

"You should have said something sooner," Ms. Ketchum gently chided as she dropped the now empty tray on the counter before she wrapped Harry in a hug from behind. "I would not have pestered you so much about it."

"It's not polite to speak ill of the dead," Harry replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "And the least I can do, is give her a little respect for taking me in when she didn't want me."

"You are such a sweet child," Ms. Ketchum declared as she briefly pressed her cheek to the top of Harry's head before she released him and collected another tray of cookies (oatmeal berry). "I guess I'll just have to think of something a little less formal for you to call me."

"He should call you mom because he has messy hair like me and it makes us look like brothers," Ash declared from where he'd been hiding beneath the table sneaking cookies whenever his mother wasn't looking; the unexpectedness of his reply making his mother jump because she had not known he was there.

"Ash Ketchum just what do you think you're doing down there?" Ms. Ketchum demanded once she'd figuratively peeled herself off the ceiling.

"Taste-testing and counting to make sure you don't pack the biggest and best cookies."

Harry couldn't help but snicker at the mother son pair when Ms. Ketchum threw her arms up in the air and let out an exasperated huff in response to her son's logic. He then recalled the logic that Ash had used to come up with what he felt Harry should be calling Ms. Ketchum and he felt rather touched that Ash was so willing to share his mother. He was tempted to take Ash up on his offer but hesitated because he wasn't certain how Ms. Ketchum felt about it; she hadn't exactly commented on Ash's suggestion.

Ms. Ketchum would shoo Ash out of the kitchen just two minutes later (with a large stack of cookies and orders to share said cookies with Gary). Harry and Ms. Ketchum would then finish packing up the last of the goodies in silence; both of them lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't until the last container of fruitcake had been securely stored that Ms. Ketchum addressed him once more.

"I'm sorry if Ash made you uncomfortable with his suggestion; he didn't mean anything by it."

"He didn't," Harry assured her as he collected the boxes and bags of fresh produce, dried goods, and canned foods that they'd purchased just a couple of days earlier from the refrigerator and cupboards. "I was actually flattered that he likes me enough to both see me as an older brother and willing enough to share his family with a near stranger."

Ms. Ketchum gave him a warm smile in reply as she passed him an extra can-opener, a box of matches (for when a Pokémon's flames were overkill), a pack of emergency flares (in case they got lost), and a large first aide kit (because she worried they would get hurt) that she'd picked up for them earlier that week. Once those were packed, Harry zipped up both pouches on the saddle-pack and settled it on his shoulder once more as the two of them left the kitchen. Just before Ms. Ketchum headed upstairs to check on the girls, she made her thoughts on Ash's earlier suggestion known to Harry.

"You know, I would not mind if you thought of me as a mother-figure; as I said earlier, you are a sweet child and I believe that any woman in her right mind would be glad to claim you as theirs. I have no intention of trying to replace your mother though; so, you don't have to call me mom, if you don't want to."

Harry felt more than a little bemused as he watched her disappear upstairs; a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth and a warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart. He sometimes had trouble believing just how lucky he and the others had been to stumble on the Oaks and Ketchums back when they first ended up in the PokéWorld. The green-eyed man turned boy would put aside his ruminations a moment later as he wandered over to join Dudley on the couch while they waited for the girls to finish getting ready.

As soon as he sat down, Harry noticed that Dudley was repeatedly scanning the blue, white, and silver PokéBall that his Klefki (which he'd rather unoriginally named Keys a few months ago) with his PokéDex; the slight frown on his face revealing that he was upset about something. When Dudley noticed him watching, the slightly older blonde turned to him and asked, "Have you tried to register the older three Pokémon yet?"

"No. Why? Is there a problem?"

"I don't know. The PokéDex tells me that Keys is registered to my Trainer ID but he doesn't show up in my Party like he's supposed to. I think the PokéDex is working right since Rex appears on the list but I can't think of why Keys isn't there too."

"Huh, weird; let me see what happens when I register Gryffin, Moony, and Trouble," Harry replied as he withdrew all three PokéBalls and his PokéDex. He then paused for a moment as he registered the name that Dudley had called his new Pokémon before he asked, "You named your Totodile Rex?"

"Yeah, he looks a little like a dinosaur the way he walks on his hind legs and because he's all mouth he reminds me of a T-Rex, so I named him Rex. He seemed to like it in any case."

Harry sent an amused grin at his cousin before he returned his attention to the PokéDex and PokéBalls in his hand. It would only take him a couple of minutes to register all three Pokémon and double check to insure that they were properly registered under his Trainer ID. He then flipped through the menu of his PokéDex in order to pull up the information on his 'Party Pokémon' as the group of Pokémon a Trainer traveled with was called. A frown would briefly pull the corners of his mouth down when he noticed that all three newly scanned Pokémon were missing from the list.

"Weird; I wonder if it is because our original Pokémon are at such high levels while we are considered Rookie Trainers because we just received our Licenses," Harry mused out loud as he tried toggling a few of the options in an effort to get the missing members of his Party to appear on the list.

"That doesn't really make sense though; why would their levels matter?"

"Professor Oak said that strong Pokémon tended to ignore weak or inexperienced Trainers in battle," Harry answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "It could even be because our other Pokémon are not native to the Kanto Region and so won't show up until we update our PokéDexes with their information."

"If that was the case, then why are our new Pokémon listed as Party Members? They're from the Johto Region, right?"

"I hadn't even thought about that; I guess we'll have to talk to Professor Oak again before we leave and see if he knows what's going on with our PokéDexes."

"Did you just say that there's something wrong with your PokéDexes?" Daisy inquired as she and Luna descended the stairs arm in arm with their packs slung over their backs.

"That's what we were just trying to figure out," Dudley replied as he waved his PokéDex for emphasis.

"What's it doing?"

"It won't add our original Pokémon as members of our Party and we can't figure out why," Harry explained as he continued to test different settings.

"Did your PokéDexes correctly register those Pokémon under your Trainer IDs?"

"Yeah, that part worked just fine but that's the only thing that worked."

"I don't think the problem is our PokéDexes," Luna stated in a melancholy tone. "It is most likely due to their origins."

"I don't think it matters what region a Pokémon is from since our Starter Pokémon show up just fine and they're native to Johto," Dudley countered with a frown.

"It is not what they are now that is the problem but what they were before they became what they are," Luna cryptically corrected as she took out Spork and Nargle's PokéBalls and registered the two former magical artifacts under her Trainer ID before tucking them away without bothering to even check to see if they showed up in her Pokémon Party.

"Oh," Harry exclaimed as he finally clued in to what Luna had meant when she'd been referring to the origins of the Pokémon that had arrived in the PokéWorld with them. "I hadn't even considered how that would affect things."

"What are you talking about?" Daisy asked in confusion since she didn't actually know that the trio had not been born in this world or that the six Pokémon that they had shown up with them had been created from magical artifacts instead of being born (or rather hatched, according to Professor Elm).

"It's not important; just a glitch in how their PokéBalls were created," Luna deflected without giving anything away and without lying to the other girl. "We just won't be able to use those Pokémon in an Official Battle, Event, or Contest because of that glitch but that's okay because they aren't our only partners now."

"Oh, okay," Daisy readily replied as she allowed the topic to be dropped without a second thought. "Have all of our supplies been packed?"

"I believe so," Harry answered as he patted the silver saddle-pack on his shoulder before he returned his Pokémon and his PokéDex to his pocket.

"Did you remember to pack towels, wash cloths, and plenty of clean underwear?" Ms. Ketchum asked as she joined them in the living room carrying a stack of towels and wash cloths (one set for each of them).

"Er, no, I don't think we bought any towels but we did have face cloths and underwear," Dudley answered as he and Harry both accepted a wash cloth and towel set from the woman while the other two sets were handed over to the two girls.

"I guess that's everything then," Daisy slowly stated as she glanced about the room; her eyes lingering on Gary, Ash, and Ms. Ketchum. "Do you think we have time to take a few pictures before we leave?"

"There will be more than enough time," Luna agreed as everyone slowly migrated towards the door. "We can take them right out in front of the house beside the flowerbeds.

A few pictures turned into a small photo shoot as Daisy insisted on taking individual pictures of all four of them, several group shots, more individual pictures of their Pokémon, group photos with each of them posing with their Pokémon, and then one huge group photo with all four of them and all nine Pokémon. She even took pictures of Gary, Ash, and Ms. Ketchum. Finally, there was no longer an excuse to put off leaving for another minute and the four of them began the long process of saying goodbye that included hugs, kisses, and noogies (the latter strictly doled out to the two five year olds).

Harry would somehow end up being the very last one to say goodbye and after saying goodbye to the two boys he found himself standing in front of a teary-eyed Ms. Ketchum once again.

"Promise me that you'll be careful out there, Harry; make sure you get plenty to eat, don't let yourself get too cold, and be sure to change your underwear every morning," Ms. Ketchum instructed as she hugged him close.

"I promise, mum," Harry quietly replied as he hugged Ms. Ketchum back for the first time; a sense of peace settling over him as he acknowledged the comfortable relationship he'd developed with the kind woman. "We'll call you from each city we visit so you'll always know where we are too."

Ms. Ketchum laughed heartily as she dropped a kiss on Harry's forehead (much as she had for all three of the others) before she gave him one last squeeze and let him go. Harry stayed long enough to smile up at her before he darted after the others who had slowly been drifting towards the edge of town. Gary and Ash raced after them for a short distance before they slowed to a stop and called out to them as they frantically waved. The quartet waved back at the pair every couple of steps until they could no longer see the five year olds.

It would only take them twenty minutes to reach the line of pine trees that marked the northern most boundary of Pallet Town even with Daisy stopping every couple of minutes to snap yet another picture. Once they did reach the boundary line, Daisy snap a few last pictures (including another group shot) before she reluctantly put her camera away. The four of them would take one last glance back at Pallet Town before they turned their backs on the small village and take their first step outside of Pallet Town as official Trainers.

Their pace as they traversed Route One was leisurely; they were not in any real hurry and had no set schedule for when they needed to reach their first destination; Viridian City. Sure, Harry wanted to start looking for his godfather as soon as possible but even he knew that they couldn't start pushing themselves right off the bat. They would need time to allow their bodies to adjust to the constant travel before they could start pushing their natural limits in order to increase their pace and the number of miles they covered in a day.

They also needed time to train both themselves and their Pokémon for future Battles and Events. Harry would also need to work on giving Battle Orders in English instead of PokéTongue; the former savior of the wizarding world currently unable to stop himself from speaking in the language and dialect of the Pokémon in his direct line of sight. Fixing that particular habit so he didn't give himself away in the first Official Trainer Battle he participated in would require lots of practice. Practice that was best performed out in the wilds where no one outside of his companions was likely to witness him slipping into Pokémon Speech.

An hour out of Pallet Town, the quartet would release their Pokémon from their PokéBalls in order to allow them to stretch their legs, do a little exploring, and maybe gain a little experience if they encountered any wild Pokémon. Harry would end up as a moving perch for Nargle, Snuggles, Gryffin, and his Cyndaquil; the Natu perched on his head, the Litleo on his left shoulder, the Chikorita on his right shoulder, and the Cyndaquil in his arms. He didn't really mind since all four of them were fairly light but he hoped it wasn't going to be a habit for all of their current and future Pokémon because he had a limited amount of perch space available.

As they walked, Harry would recite all of the Pokémon Moves that he had memorized to date while keeping his eyes on Moony, who was pacing in front of them. Each time that he slipped into PokéTongue, one of the others would tell him and then he'd start over from the top of the list. When he first started the training, he couldn't get past the first Move because he would automatically start in PokéTongue but by the time they decided to stop for lunch, he could list the first five Moves before he slipped back into PokéSpeech.

Harry had finished off about half an egg salad sandwich when his eyes landed on a knotted clump of long grass on the other side of the road. At first, he couldn't help but wonder why that particular clump of grass would seem vaguely familiar until he remembered that he had been the one to tie the grass in a knot. Once he realized that they were just a few dozen yards from where they had woken up in this world, Harry snapped his gaze back towards Pallet Town as it occurred to him that he must have been very close to the small village when Professor Oak stumbled upon him on that long ago morning.

"Is there something wrong, Harry?" Daisy asked when she noticed that he was staring back towards Pallet Town.

"No, just thinking back to the day your grandfather found me sitting in the middle of the road. We're actually sitting across from the field we'd spent the night in."

"Wait, you slept in the middle of Berry Meadow? Why? Weren't you afraid that you'd be attacked by a mob of angry Spearow?"

"We didn't actually know any better back then," Dudley explained as he turned around to glance at the clump of grass that Harry had recognized. "And none of the wild Pokémon bothered us."

"I wonder if there's any ripe berries to be found," Harry wondered out loud as he recalled the wild PokéBerries that had been the first ever meal they'd eaten in this world.

"We could always take a look before we start walking again," Dudley pointed out as he finished off his ham sandwich.

"What? But we could be attacked by wild Pokémon if we go into the long grass!" Daisy protested even as both boys climbed to their feet. "And Berry Meadow is home to the largest flock of Spearow in all Kanto!"

"We'll be fine; it's not as if we'll be alone in there," Harry countered as he gestured to the nine Pokémon that were all listening to their conversation. "And if we do encounter a few wild Pokémon, we can get in a little training."

Several of the Pokémon perked up at the prospect of a Training Battle or two and after a brief hesitation, Daisy acquiesced and the four of them put away their leftovers before they crossed the road. Harry, Gryffin, Moony, and his Cyndaquil would take the lead (the Fire Mouse Pokémon once again in his arms) and Dudley would bring up the rear with Rex which left Daisy, Luna, and their Pokémon in the middle.

The moment they left the road, all four of them were swallowed up by the towering grasses that stood nearly two full feet above their head and bathed them in green and gold shadows as they blocked out a large portion of the sun.

* * *

**Notes:**

Pokémon Parties (M = Male, F = Female, G = Genderless)

Daisy:  
Name TBA – F Charmander

Dudley:  
Keys – G Klefki  
Rex – M Totodile

Luna:  
Nargle – F Natu  
Spork – M Spoink  
Snuggles – M Chikorita

Harry:  
Moony – M Absol  
Gryffin – M Litleo  
Trouble – F Misdreavus  
Name TBA – M Cyndaquil

* * *

**AN:** _They've finally left the village! And it only took me six chapters to make them leave. Anyway, this chapter was mostly fluffy filler meant to finish establishing their bonds to the Oak and Ketchum families and to get them out of the village. From this point forward, you can expect between one and three chapters per Game Village (I.E. those villages found in the games). I will be exploring each village in depth through Harry's eyes as he systematically searches for his godfather. Canon Events (either game play or anime plot/story) will be touched on occasionally but they are not the main focus of this story. _

_The order in which they visit each of the villages in a region will not necessarily follow the game play route nor will it follow Ash's route from the anime; so please don't tell me they are visiting the cities out of order. _

_In between the village arcs, I will throw in little side adventures to explore the routes (including paths through various mountains, caves, ruins, or other special location), trainer battles, and various Pokémon the group encounters/captures. Some of those will include Research Arcs where Harry carries out his duties as an official researcher contracted to both Oak and Elm (other professors will be added in the future but not until he ventures into their regions). Others will explore the talents of his three companions. There will even be a few that explore places that are only mentioned in the anime (such as the Ruin of Pokémopolis)._

_Now that I've finished ironing out exactly how I want this story to unfold, I will warn you that this story is going to be very slow at times and that it is going to seemingly drag on forever because I am not going to skip over any Game Village and each village will be thoroughly explored. I'm also going to be doing a lot of Character Development in addition to exploring the history and development of the PokéWorld as the quartet moves from town to town. On top of that, this is going to be a very, very long story; you can expect a minimum of one hundred chapters. _

_So, if you aren't particularly fond of huge stories, you might want to bow out now because this will be the longest story I have plotted out to date. There is a reason why I put the word 'Epic' in the title as I knew from the start it would be a big story. And the Pokémon World is HUGE, even if I just pull from the first four regions. _

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter… I'd like to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, and/or placed this story on their Alert of Favorites List; it is very flattering to have such a large following of fans and avid readers following my stories. ~ Jenn_

**09-26-15: **_Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary bits from the author's notes._


	10. Mob Mentality

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Nine: Mob Mentality

_March 30, 2031  
Berry Meadow, Route 01  
Kanto Region_

They hadn't been in the grass for long when they would encounter their first wild Pokémon; a purple and cream rat with overlarge front teeth about the size of a house cat. Harry pulled out his PokéDex to catalog the Pokémon he knew was a Rattata (the Mouse Pokémon and one of the types he'd worked with at Oak's Lab) while Daisy automatically stepped forward to snap a picture of the curious creature. According to his PokéDex, the female Rattata was only at level two and therefore had far less experience than their Starter Pokémon.

"_What do you think, little one; should we battle this Rattata?_" Harry asked his Cyndaquil as he crouched down to study the wild Rattata as she eyed him with confused curiosity; her eyes lighting up with excitement the moment Harry spoke the word 'battle'.

"_Battle! Good, good fight now!_" the Rattata agreed enthusiastically.

Harry's Cyndaquil hesitated before he nodded in agreement; his fighting spirit strong despite his timid nature. Harry set the Cyndaquil down on the ground in front of him while the others drew back so as to give them plenty of room when it became clear that Harry was going to have Cyndaquil battle the Rattata. Harry had barely let go of Cyndaquil before the Rattata was charging towards the Fire Mouse Pokémon in an attempt to **Tackle** him.

"_Dodge her!_" Harry ordered before he scrambled backwards to avoid getting caught in the attack when Cyndaquil managed to sidestepped at the last second; the Rattata skidding to a stop not far from Cyndaquil after her attack had missed.

"No PokéTongue!" Luna sang out; her tone amused and chiding.

"Right," Harry agreed as he forced himself to think 'human' even as he concentrated on the battle. "Quick; use **Tackle**, little one."

The Cyndaquil threw himself at his opponent and curled into a ball at the last second. He hit the Rattata square in the side just seconds later and sent the purple Pokémon tumbling. Harry whooped with excitement over his Cyndaquil's successful hit. The Rattata recovered a moment later and attacked Cyndaquil with **Tail Whip** and Harry quickly told his Pokémon to dodge the Status Attack and **Tackle** the wild Pokémon a second time. The Rattata wouldn't recover from the second hit; the additional blow from a spinning Cyndaquil knocked her out cold.

"_Good job, little one,_" Harry praised as he scooped Cyndaquil up into his arms once more.

He then glanced down at the unconscious Rattata as he tried to decide whether or not he wanted to 'capture' the wild Pokémon. After thinking about it for a few minutes, he decided against it since he would rather spend a little more time bonding with his Cyndaquil before he took on another Pokémon. Decision made, Harry moved over to the unconscious Rattata and took a few minutes to hide her away in a little bower he made by looping a few clumps of tall grass around her. It might seem a bit cruel to just leave her like that but he knew she'd wake up in a minute or two.

That was one thing that Professor Oak and Daisy had both stressed while teaching the trio about wild Pokémon battles; unless you intended to capture the Pokémon, do not attempt to handle them because they would instinctively attack you if they woke up and found themselves restrained. Battle induced injuries usually faded within five to twenty-four hours (depending on how serious the injury was and how 'drained' a Pokémon was at the end of the battle) due to the internal energies that gave the Pokémon their powers preventing their bodies from taking serious damage from another Pokémon Attack.

Injuries that Pokémon obtained in a battle were therefore non-life threatening even if they did cause the Pokémon pain until they were healed.

That didn't mean that Pokémon couldn't kill one another; they could, since there were some species of Pokémon whose diets consisted of their fellow Pokémon. However, the number of Pokémon actually killed by other Pokémon was fairly low. That was especially true when it came to wild Pokémon; since a wild Pokémon would only kill another Pokémon in order to eat it or in defense of its young (for those species that formed a parental bond with their offspring). No wild Pokémon would ever kill another Pokémon simply for the sake of killing it.

Domesticated Pokémon, on the other hand, obeyed the whims of their Trainers and were therefore less driven by their instincts and more likely to kill a Pokémon if ordered to by their Trainer. That's not to say that all Trainers went about randomly killing every single Pokémon that they came across; they didn't. But there were some Trainers out there that relished in killing for sport (much like wild game hunters back in the trio's original world). There were also poachers that killed or captured wild Pokémon for profit.

Pokémon were also far more likely to be killed by human hands than they were by other Pokémon even if you counted those Pokémon trained to kill by their human partners. Physical damage that was inflicted upon a Pokémon by human devices and tools were not healed by their internal powers because their internal healing abilities could not recognize the injury as damage obtained in battle. There were exceptions for those Pokémon that had the ability to grow back their limbs or tails (three examples being Slowpoke, Staryu, and Starmie) but very few species actually had such an ability.

For the rest of the Pokémon population, knife wounds, gunshot wounds, taser wounds, or blunt trauma caused by a tool or weapon (such as a pipe, shovel, or knife) could potentially kill, cripple, or seriously injure them. It was against the law for a human to attack a Pokémon using such methods as a result. And if caught abusing Pokémon in such a fashion, the perpetrator would be stripped of any Pokémon Licenses registered to his or her name, pay a steep fine, spend a minimum of five years in prison for each confirmed offense, and would never again be allowed to legally own, breed, raise, or train another Pokémon.

Pokémon could also die from old age, heart ache, poisoning, or disease as well. Death is, after all, merely a part of life.

Leaving the unconscious Rattata behind, the four pre-teens and their Pokémon continued through the long grass towards the berry bushes that grew throughout the meadow. Every couple of yards, their small party would be ambushed by wild Pokémon that were drawn towards the sound of rustling grass or the sounds of battle. Each time they were attacked, they would take turns letting their Starter Pokémon face the attacking Pokémon so that each of them could gain experience. It was fun; for both Trainers and Pokémon.

It was also somewhat exhausting for the young Pokémon as they were not used to fighting quite so often. The older Pokémon didn't get much of a chance to actually fight; the wild Pokémon avoided them due to the fact that they could sense how much stronger the former wands and Hallows were (Dudley's Klefki once again secured in its PokéBall). The presence of those five Pokémon also reduced the overall number of Pokémon that sought them out; only the bravest of the wild Pokémon daring to sneak past them to face the four younger ones in battle.

In addition to the battles, Harry often took time to question the wild Pokémon in order to learn more about them and the meadow they lived in. His reasons for doing so were two-fold; one, he had promised both professors that he would carry out the research each had tasked him with and two, he really wanted to learn more about the creatures. He thought they were fascinating; even more so than the various magical creatures he'd encountered in the wizarding world. The fact that Pokémon could speak and were intelligent enough to hold conversations was the biggest reason for his fascination.

Halfway through the field, the group would stumble upon the burrow that Gryffin had dug five months earlier. The small underground cave had unsurprisingly become home to a rather large colony of Rattata at some point after the trio had abandoned it. The four children half expected most of the colony to come forward to battle but were surprised when most of the wild Mouse Pokémon withdrew into the burrow instead. As they trooped passed the tunnel entrance a moment later, Harry glanced down the darkened tunnel and noted a dozen beady eyes watching them.

He was half tempted to stop and ask them why they were so frightened but eventually decided against it when he recalled the way some of the more timid creatures were chased off by the presence of the five former magical artifacts. He also knew there was a slight chance that those Rattata present were all younger, less experienced Pokémon that were easily intimidated.

Once past the burrow, the number of wild Pokémon ambushing them dwindled down to nothing. The three world travelers thought nothing of it but Daisy grew a little anxious; she well knew the reputation of the Spearow Flocks that lived in Berry Meadow and there had been no Spearow amongst their earlier attackers. Approximately half an hour after they had passed the burrow, the quartet reached the Pecha Berry Bushes and found the scattered bushes bursting with colorful blossoms in various stages of bloom and the air heavy with the scent of freshly opened flowers.

They spent several minutes wandering from bush to bush looking for any berries but they didn't have any luck; it was either far too early in the season or the berries had already been stripped from the bushes by the wild Pokémon. The trip across the meadow had still been worth it in Harry's eyes though since the blooming berry bushes were rather pretty to look at and their newest Pokémon had gained a wealth of experience from the numerous battles they had participated in as they moved through the grass.

Daisy had just finished taking a few pictures of the flowering bushes when their luck ran out as hundreds of small brown, red, cream, and black bird Pokémon rose up out of the grass all around them. There were so many of the angry little birds that they near blocked out the sun as they surrounded the quartet and their Pokémon.

"This is bad… very bad," Daisy muttered as she warily eyed creatures surrounding them. "That's the largest flock of Spearow I've ever seen and it's at least twice as large as rumors said it was. I didn't even know there were that many Spearow living in the meadow."

As if her words were a sign, the Spearow Flock began discordantly chanting, "_Thief, thief, thief…_"

"Uh, do I even want to know what their saying?" Dudley asked a little nervously.

"They're calling us thieves," Harry replied as he canted his head to the side and listened closely to the calls of the wild Pokémon. "I don't know why though; since we didn't actually take anything from them."

"It's because we're in their territory," Daisy pointed out as she tucked her camera back into her pack before she let her hand hover over the zippered compartment where she was carrying a bunch of Pokémon treats. "Do you think we should give them a few of the treats we brought with us? If we do, then maybe they'll leave us alone."

"No, it will not matter to them; they will attack us no matter what," Luna countered as she reached out to stop Daisy from opening up the supply pocket. "If we offer them food, they will take that as an open invitation to shred our bags and take all of our supplies for themselves. They're nothing but a bunch of greedy bullies that enjoy ganging up on and terrorizing anyone that steps into the meadow."

"Harry, do you think you can talk them into leaving us alone?" Dudley inquired as Luna's words seemed to agitate the angry flock further.

"Sure," Harry agreed before he cleared his throat and focused on the nearest bird. "_There's no need for all of you to get so grumpy; we're not staying here. In fact, if you'd just back up and give us a bit of room, we'll leave right now._"

"…_thief,_" the birds chanted one last time before the crowd of angry birds fell silent; a few of them actually froze up in shock upon hearing him speak 'Spearow' and fell out of the sky. Then all at once, the rest of the flock seemed to puff themselves up as they picked up a new chant of, "_Fight, fight, fight…_"

"I'll take that as a resounding no," Dudley deadpanned as he pulled his gaze off the flock and cast a sideways glance at Harry.

"My words gave them a reason to change their tune; now they want to fight," Harry calmly stated as he met Dudley's gaze for a brief second before he returned his attention to the wild Pokémon. "_I don't suppose the lot of you would consider lining up to battle us one on one, would you?_" That only made the birds angry enough to start their attack. "_I didn't think so._"

Spork was the first Pokémon to react; the small Spoink using **Mirror Coat** to protect their small group from Status Attacks launched by the Spearow. Gryffin darted out in front of Harry next and let loose a **Noble Roar** that washed over half of the flock, dropping the angry birds' Attack Stat and chasing off a few of the weaker birds. Gryffin's Status Attack rebounded off of Spork's **Mirror Coat** at the same time and spared their own Pokémon from having their Attack Stat lowered by the sound based attack.

Keys let itself out of its PokéBall a split second after Gryffin loosed his **Noble Roar** and the moment the Litleo stopped his attack, it attacked with **Metal Sound**. Like Gryffin's attack, **Metal Sound** targeted the foe's Stats; sharply dropping a foe's Defense by two full levels. It also affected multiple targets and was again bounced off of the **Mirror Coat** that surrounded the quartet and their Pokémon.

The other Pokémon soon joined in the fight with Nargle, Rex, and Cyndaquil using **Leer** to further lower the Defense Stat of the Spearow while Snuggles and Charmander used **Growl** to lower their Attack Stat; their attacks only affecting a large number of the wild Spearow and not their Pokémon. Trouble would then follow up with **Confuse Ray**; yet another Status Attack that affected multiple targets and which **Mirror Coat** prevented from affecting their Pokémon. Lastly, Moony used **Swords Dance** to boost his own Attack Stat in preparation for his attack.

At the same time as the group's Pokémon were defending their humans from the wild Pokémon, the Spearow launched a multi-pronged attack using **Growl**,** Leer**,** Peck**, and** Fury Attack**. The two Status Attacks were deflected by **Mirror Coat** while the Physical Attacks had to be blocked or dodged, though more than a few of the attacks landed due to the sheer number of Spearow that were attacking. Several of those wild Spearow that had been confused by Trouble's **Confuse Ray** ended up attacking themselves or another member of the flock.

Chaos and confusion reigned in midst of the mob for several minutes as the wild Pokémon attacked and their Pokémon counter attacked while the four children did their best to shield the four youngest Pokémon from the worst of the attacks. Unlike the one-on-one battles they had participated in earlier, there were no carefully thought out battle orders; the quartet simply allowed the Pokémon to fight instinctively least their frantic instructions leave their Pokémon open to an attack they couldn't see.

That was especially true for the older six Pokémon who may or may not have actually listened to their inexperienced trainers during the chaotic battle.

Five minutes into the battle, Gryffin ceased attacking the wild Spearow and dug down into the earth using **Dig**. He would return five minutes later and drag Harry down into the hole with him. Harry yelped in surprise as he was pulled into the ground and automatically snagged hold of his Cyndaquil so he wouldn't be separated from the young Pokémon. The other three ten year olds and most of their Pokémon soon joined him under ground when Nargle herded them into the tunnel.

Harry felt a small spark of concern when Gryffin immediately blocked the tunnel the moment everyone but Moony was inside of the underground refuge and he couldn't help but ask, "_Gryffin, why did you lock Moony out? He needs to be protected from the mob as well!_"

"_We are not protecting you from the wild Spearow,_" Nargle interjected before Gryffin could reply. "_We are protecting you from Moony's attack._"

"_What do you mean?_" Harry asked with more than a little trepidation.

"_Moony, the Elder Wand, is the strongest of those that chose to remain with you,_" Gryffin answered as he returned to Harry's side once the small tunnel was sealed and used **Ember** to start a small fire so that they could see. "_His most effective attacks are devastating and they will affect all within in range; including you and the rest of us Pokémon. Because of that, it is not safe for him to unleash those attacks while you were within range. So, hiding you and the others underground while he remains up there will allow him to deal with the mob of Spearow that attacked us._"

"_I didn't know Moony had any attacks like that; what attack is he going to use?_"

"_**Perish Song**__,_" Trouble whispered as she hovered above Harry's head.

"_I've never heard of that move before; what does it do? It's not going to kill the wild Spearow, will it?_"

"_No, __**Perish Song**__ will not kill the Spearow,_" Nargle stated firmly as she hopped onto Luna's lap. "_However, it is a dangerous attack because all who hear it will fall unconscious within five minutes and they will not wake up for twenty-four hours; leaving the victims vulnerable to further attack. It is also effective on humans; which is why we brought you down here._"

"_Does that mean that it will also knock Moony out?_"

"_No, those that use __**Perish Song**__ are immune to its effects unless it is another that is using that move on them,_" Trouble replied as she settled down on his shoulder with part of her wispy body sinking into his limb and chilling him to the bone.

"What's happening?" Dudley inquired as he leaned around Luna and Daisy in order to catch Harry's gaze.

"Moony is using a wide range attack that will knock out every creature within range," Harry replied as he struggled with the negative connotations of such a devastating attack (much as he'd originally struggled with Moony's classification as a 'dark' Pokémon. In the end, he came to the conclusion that the attack wasn't as terrible as it sounded because it didn't actually cause any lasting harm. "Humans included, according to Nargle."

Silence fell over the group for a long minute before Daisy rounded on the two boys as she imperiously stated, "The two of you are never allowed to lead us off the road to explore again. I _told_ you that the Spearow would mob us if we set foot in their territory but you just had to go charging in anyway! From now on, Luna and I are in charge of any side trips we take; is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Harry and Dudley crowed in unison.

"Good, because if either one of you ever get us mobbed again, I'm going to stuff you both in dresses and make you both dance as part of Charm's Contest acts."

"I'd rather let Rex use me as a chew toy," Harry muttered with a small shudder as he thought back to the disastrous Yule Ball of his fourth year.

"That can be arranged," Daisy haughtily announced before all four of them burst into giggles; the laughter less about being amused and more about being relieved that they were no longer under attack. Once they'd calmed down, Daisy sighed and pointed out, "Really though, we never would have been in so much trouble if we didn't invade the Spearows' territory. We have to show a little more respect to the wild Pokémon unless we want to end up in trouble all the time."

"It was not a lack of respect that caused us to be attacked," Harry countered as he absently scratched his Cyndaquil under the chin, making the small Fire Mouse Pokémon purr like a cat. "The other wild Pokémon we encountered didn't mind us passing through and those we fought against had been rather happy to battle unfamiliar Pokémon. And if they were truly just looking to defend their territory, then they would have tried to chase us off long before we reached the berry bushes instead of giving us time to wander about and take a good look around."

"The encounter with the Spearow was an important learning experience for Harry in any case," Luna added as she ran her fingers through Nargle's feathers and fluffed them out so that they were all standing straight up; making the poor bird Pokémon look like she'd stuck her beak in an electrical socket. "He needed to know that his ability to speak to Pokémon does not equate absolute control over any Pokémon that hears him speak. It was best that he learned that lesson now, when we were facing such a weak mob of Pokémon, rather than when our lives are truly in danger."

A grimace briefly crossed Harry's face as he realized just how arrogant he'd grown after working with the domestic Pokémon at Professor Oak's Lab. Even the wild Pokémon that he had encountered in and around Pallet Town had been willing to obey him. He really should have known better but he'd been rather caught up in the excitement of the research that he'd been helping the Professor with and had been spoiled by the willing obedience of the Pokémon he'd interacted with since he treated them with respect and usually asked nicely.

He briefly wondered how he'd managed to feel such arrogance in the face of his inability to feel negative emotions before he realized that arrogance wasn't really an emotion; it was more a cross between a state of mind and a learned behavior. Letting out a soft sigh, Harry reached up to pull off his glasses so that he could scrub at his face for a moment before he replaced his glasses and mentally made a note to keep a closer eye on his behavior least his arrogance lead them into further trouble down the road.

"Wait, are you saying that you knew we'd be mobbed by the Spearow and you didn't warn us?" Daisy demanded in shock as she whirled to stare at the blind blonde.

"I could have warned everyone but then Harry would not have learned his lesson," Luna replied serenely. "Pokémon are not the only creatures that learn from experience and the various tests and lessons we each will face as we continue our journey will only help us to grow stronger. At the same time, those experiences will enrich our lives and provide us with hundreds of stories that we will one day tell our children and grandchildren in order to inspire and teach them."

"Couldn't you just have told Harry that he was getting too big for his britches and warned him that not all Pokémon would listen to him?"

"Yes, but he would not have learned the lesson properly. Harry is more of a hands-on learner; he learns best when he is allowed to make his own mistakes because the lessons hold more meaning for him that way."

"Luna would have warned us if there is a real risk that one of us would be seriously hurt," Dudley added as he scooched closer to Luna in order to offer her his support for her decision.

"We also can't expect Luna to plot out our every move; it wouldn't be fair to her," Harry quietly pointed out.

"That would also make for a rather boring journey," Luna sing-sang as she leaned up against Dudley.

"Oh," Daisy murmured as she glanced between the three of them. "I'm sorry for getting angry."

"You don't have to apologize, Daisy; you're still getting to know our quirks while the three of us have had years to get to know one another," Harry countered with a negligent wave of his hand. "I also wouldn't be surprised if we step on each other's toes every now and then since we'll be spending so much time together over the next few years."

"Oh, most definitely, Harry's particularly good at stepping on toes; especially when dancing," Luna quipped around a giggle and Harry blushed with mild embarrassment over the second reminder of the Yule Ball.

Before Harry could come up with an appropriate retort, Nargle calmly interjected, "_Moony has finished dealing with the Spearow._"

"_Thanks, Nargle,_" Harry murmured in response before he turned to his Litleo. "_Griffin, could you please dig us out now?_" He then glanced up at his companions to add, "Moony finished taking down the Spearow; it's safe for us to leave now."

It would only take the Lion Cub Pokémon two minutes to burrow through the dirt and the group emerged from the rough underground cave they'd taken shelter in. The moment they crawled out into the open, they were met with the sight of a solemn Moony sitting in the center of what looked like a carpet of unconscious Spearow flattening the grass for at least a dozen yards in every direction. The Absol's eyes were dark and shadowed as the Pokémon sought to meet the gaze of his Trainer and Harry's heart briefly ached for his Pokémon as he read the trepidation in the Disaster Pokémon's eyes.

The powerful Pokémon feared he would be rejected out of fear for what Harry's arrogance had forced him to do.

Harry briefly thought it was a good thing that he couldn't feel fear as he boldly strode up to Moony and wrapped the Absol in a hug as he softly proclaimed, "_You're the absolute best, Moony; and don't you ever let anyone ever tell you otherwise. I only wish we hadn't forced you to protect all of us from the Spearow like that; you never should have been forced to fight alone._"

"_Someone has to watch over you, human,_" Moony thickly teased in return as he pressed his cold nose into Harry's neck and sagged against the pre-teen; the Pokémon relieved that he had not lost his wizard's love and respect.

Harry chuckled into Moony's neck ruff for a moment before he pulled back and began inspecting the large Pokémon for injuries. The other three pre-teens soon followed his example and began examining their Pokémon for injuries. Most of the injuries they found were scratches and bruises with an infrequent small gash from where an occasional Physical Attack had gotten through their defenses during the short period of time they'd been right in the middle of the mob. It would only take them about half an hour to treat those minor injuries.

As soon as they were finished, the group began heading back towards the road; though Harry lingered long enough to take several digital pictures of the fallen Spearow using the camera function of his PokéDex. Once the quartet reached the road, they picked up their pace in order to put as much distance between themselves and Berry Meadow as possible before the Spearow woke up. They didn't stop walking until sunset when they moved off the road and set up camp beneath the canopy of a small copse of fir trees where they would be harder to spot from the sky.

While the others set up camp and started supper, Harry sat off to one side and wrote out his first official research report as a licensed Researcher.

_**Date:** 30-03-2031_  
_**Time:** 13:23_  
_**Location:** Route 01 – Berry Meadow_  
_**Region:** Kanto_  
_**Researcher ID#:** 0018708HP_  
_**Trainer ID#:** 062442HP, 062443LL, 062444DD, 062441DO_  
_**Subject:** Wild Spearow_

_**Overview:** An abnormally large flock of overly aggressive wild Spearow is having a_  
_negative impact on the environment in and around Berry Meadow._

_**Report:** During a brief foray into the tall grasses of Berry Meadow to inspect the wild_  
_PokéBerries bushes growing in the area my companions and I encountered a flock of wild_  
_Spearow containing between three and four hundred individuals. The entire flock displayed_  
_an aggressiveness that was above and beyond the usual territorial nature that the species as_  
_a whole has been known to exhibit when confronting trespassers._

_The flock accused us of being thieves even though we did not touch the berry bushes and_  
_an attempt was made to reason with the Spearow. The Spearow were unwilling to listen_  
_and went from throwing accusations to demanding to fight. An offer to battle them one at_  
_a time was refused and the entire flock mobbed our small group while our Pokémon_  
_banded together to protect us from the Spearow._

_The entire battle was short lived due to the actions of our Pokémon. My Litleo dug an_  
_underground burrow for us to hide in while my Absol remained above ground to deal with_  
_the Spearow. The area-wide attack used knocked out those members of the flock that had_  
_not been knocked out during the first few minutes of the fight when we were all still_  
_above ground._

_**Observations:** The out of character behavior demonstrated by those Spearow that were_  
_part of the flock include; a lack of attempts to vocally warn us away from the area, there_  
_were no individual or small group attempts made to stop our forward progress, and the_  
_entire flock surrounded us in an attempt to keep us from leaving instead of chasing us off._

_Additionally, the level of intelligence displayed by the flock was comparable to that_  
_displayed by Pokémon that are ranked as level three or lower; that includes those_  
_individuals in the flock that were above level five. The mob-mentality they displayed was_  
_worrisome due to the extreme levels of aggressiveness._

_Furthermore, the violent nature of the flock has had a negative impact on the population of_  
_the other species of wild Pokémon that usually make their home in the area. The only two_  
_species outside of the Spearow still living within the area were Pidgey and Rattata while_  
_there was a notable absence of Bug and Grass Pokémon that are native to the area._

_Natural food sources in the area have also been seriously depleted and what little food_  
_remains is hoarded by the Spearow. That is especially true of the wild PokéBerry bushes_  
_that grow within the meadow._

_**Recommendations:** I recommend that the Spearow flock be broken up and a minimum of_  
_sixty percent of their numbers relocated to under populated areas in order to reduce the_  
_strain the abnormally large flock has been placing on the ecosystem of the meadow. I also_  
_recommend that native Pokémon and alternative food sources be reintroduced to the area_  
_in order to restore the balance._

_END REPORT_

Once he had finished his report on the Spearow, Harry wrote out a letter for Professor Oak detailing the moves that their Pokémon had used during the incident. He also assured the man that all four of them had come out of the incident unscathed and that they would be extra careful in the future. As soon as he finished writing the letter, he attached the photos he'd taken to the file along with his report and sent it off to Professor Oak.

He then spent an hour spoiling his Pokémon (and sharing his lap with Daisy's Charmander) before he helped feed all of the Pokémon. After supper, he would spend the rest of the night under a veritable blanket of Pokémon while he transferred a copy of his report into the blank journal he'd been given by Professor Oak to record his research notes while traveling and added several extra notes about the observations he had made of both the group's Pokémon and the wild Pokémon that they had encountered.

The rest of their journey to Viridian City would be fairly uneventful outside of a few wild Pokémon battles.

* * *

**Notes:**

Pokémon Parties (M = Male, F = Female, G = Genderless)

Daisy:  
Name TBA – F Charmander

Dudley:  
Keys – G Klefki  
Rex – M Totodile

Luna:  
Nargle – F Natu  
Spork – M Spoink  
Snuggles – M Chikorita

Harry:  
Moony – M Absol  
Gryffin – M Litleo  
Trouble – F Misdreavus  
Name TBA – M Cyndaquil

* * *

**AN:** _I had originally planned to have this chapter up yesterday but I spent most of the day curled up in bed sleeping off a rather nasty migraine that I didn't quite catch before it hit me. I then had to spend most of today reformatting the chapters I re-uploaded for re-posting since I hadn't gotten to that either before my head and stomach rebelled against me because I hadn't been paying my body close enough attention. Not that today was much better since I still feel like I have a herd of hippogriffs tap dancing on my brain and my stomach is being picky about food._

_Anywho, the first ten chapters were updated alongside this post but there is no real reason for you to go back and re-read everything because most of the edits made were just minor corrections along with removing some obsolete author's notes. And yes, I will be posting the Viridian City arch this weekend (and partially into next week) as well. No, I don't know how many chapters that it off the top of my head right now and please don't ask me to count them; numbers make my head hurt worse at the moment. _

_Actually, thinking makes my head hurt. _

_For those of you curious as to what held this chapter up for so long, it was writing that dang research report. I'm still not one hundred percent happy with it but it is at least ten times better than my first dozen attempts. I suppose I could have just cut it out but I felt it needed to be there because Harry is a researcher in this story and so I need to show the information he gathers without constantly covering every little detail within the story. That is especially true when it comes to relaying Harry's thoughts and suggestions about what he is learning. _

_That said, there won't be a large number of reports that get written up; only a handful here and there when the group encounters something that has a negative (or positive) effect on the wild_ _Pokémon that they encounter. So no, I'm not just using the reports to add to the word count.  
_

_Anyway, I think everything that needed to be said was covered in the chapter already so I'll leave things where they stand and come back with another chapter sometime tomorrow. ~ Jenn_


	11. Viridian City

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Ten: Viridian City

_April 02, 2031  
Viridian City  
Kanto Region_

The Quartet would reach Viridian City early on the morning of the second (roughly two days after their encounter with the Spearow Flock. All four of them were tired and eager to wash off the accumulated dirt and spend the night in a real bed for the first time two nights. It wasn't that they hadn't enjoyed camping out (they had), it was more that they weren't used to sleeping in the wilderness on the ground beneath the stars. It was also a bit weird for there to be no adult within arm's reach; that was especially true for Daisy, who had never spent the night away from Pallet Town previously.

After taking a moment to simply bask in the knowledge that they'd survived their first unsupervised journey through the wilds, the four pre-teens returned their Pokémon to their PokéBalls and headed for the Pokémon Center so they could book a pair of rooms for the duration of their stay in the city. Harry was rather curious about the Pokémon Centers as that was one of the few buildings that none of the three travelers had ever set foot in when they had been in town with Ms. Ketchum or Professor Oak. Not that there'd been any need for them to use the Centers on their handful of visits to Viridian City or Celadon City over the past five months.

As they approached the Pokémon Center a half an hour later, Harry took in the boxy looking building. The building was shaped like a rectangle that had had all four corners shaved off, was three stories tall with a reddish-orange roof, several large plate glass windows evenly placed about the building, and surrounded on three sides by a grass lawn boxed in with juniper bushes in various stages of growth. Centered on the third floor on front of the building over the electronic doors was a large sign with a stylized PokéBall painted in red.

All in all it was a distinctive looking building and one that could be recognized at a glimpse from a distance.

After taking one last look at the building's exterior, Harry followed the others inside. Once in the building, Harry moved a few steps to the side of the door before he stopped to assess the place. The lobby he'd stepped into took up roughly a sixth of the entire ground floor. To the right of the entrance, there was a small cafeteria that catered to humans and Pokémon that took up another sixth of the ground floor with a glass wall separating the cafeteria from the lobby.

In the wall directly behind cafeteria, there was hall leading to the restrooms according to the sign on the wall above the hallway entrance. Just beyond the hallway, there was a line of five computer terminals with pay phones that ran along the wall. The last computer and phone terminal sat directly beside a pair of swinging doors that led deeper into the building; the sign above the door indicating that those doors led into the Pokémon Clinic where seriously injured or ill Pokémon were treated.

Centered along the back wall of the lobby there was a large chunk of the lobby cordoned off with a counter on all three sides to form a reception station. Inside of that area there was a computer terminal, a bulky machine with six indents the size and shape of an expanded PokéBall, and an open doorway leading into the back. Currently seated at the computer terminal in the reception station, there was a woman with bubblegum pink hair that had been tied up in an elaborate pair of ponytails that formed a bow on the back of her head.

If not for his inability to feel grief, Harry would have wept over the memories of Tonks's death and the godson he'd not been allowed to see due to the woman's hair color sharply reminding him of the bubbly metamorphmagus. As it was, Harry merely closed his eyes for a brief moment to center himself before he gently tucked those memories into the back of his mind where they would be out of the way but never forgotten. He then resumed his inspection of the lobby as his eyes took in the small waiting section (complete with out-dated magazines, secondhand guidebooks, and health pamphlets) situated to the left of the counter.

The rest of the left-hand wall was filled with a series of doorways, staircases, and lifts that led into the trainer dorms, the staffs' quarters, the Pokémon Kennels (for those Pokémon that were uninjured but still under observation by the Clinic's staff), several storage rooms, and the basement where the Center's backup generator was housed. Those doorways leading into areas that were restricted to authorized personnel only, were barred with locked doors to prevent anyone from accessing the rooms beyond them.

Inspection complete, Harry finally moved forward to join his companions at the receptionist's desk. He caught up to them just as the pink-haired woman reflexively intoned, "Hello and welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Center," without looking up.

"Good morning, Nurse Joy," Daisy greeted in return as she leaned on the counter.

"Daisy, it is good to see you," Nurse Joy warmly replied as she finally looked up from her computer and smiled at the auburn haired pre-teen before she glanced about the lobby as if looking for someone else. "It is rather unusual to see you here without an escort. Where is your grandfather hiding?"

"Gramps is back in Pallet Town; I've officially started my Pokémon Journey this year."

"Really? Good for you, young lady; are you going to take the Pokémon League Challenge or are you running research errands for Professor Oak?"

"All four of us plan to register for the Kanto League," Daisy replied as she stepped to the side and gestured to the three world travelers.

"All four of you, huh? Did you stumble on your friends on your Journey here? I don't recall seeing them around Viridian City in the past."

"Actually, it was Professor Oak that had stumbled on us last year and he took us in after he learned we were new to the area," Harry supplied as he moved up beside Daisy.

"Oh, does that mean that the three of you are the young orphans that he took in last fall?"

"Yes."

"Well, it is certainly good to see that you are all in good health. Professor Oak was most concerned about all three of you due to the condition in which he found you. I remember his frantic request to borrow my Chansey when one of you boys grew too sick to move."

Harry's cheeks grew warm with mild embarrassment over the reminder of how sick he'd made himself by wandering around in the chilly air all those months ago and he awkwardly cleared his throat before he offered a quiet, "Thank you, for allowing your Pokémon partner to help me, ma'am."

"You're very welcome, young man."

"Do you think it would be possible for me to see your Chansey before we leave Viridian City? I'd like to personally thank her for what she did for me."

"Yes, I think that can be arranged in between Chansey's shifts with our current patients," Nurse Joy agreed as her smile grew even warmer in response to his request. "How long do the four of you intend to stay?"

"We'll be here until the morning of the fifth," Luna stated in her usual dreamy tone.

"Do you already have a place to stay or did you wish to reserve a room for your stay?"

"We'd like to book a pair of rooms," Daisy answered almost before Nurse Joy finished asking her question. "We'd also like to schedule a check-up for all of our Pokémon."

"If you pass me your PokéBalls, I can start scanning them now while the four of you fill out your applications for the Pokémon League," Nurse Joy offered as she climbed to her feet and set a quartet of six-by-four application cards down on the counter before she fished out four silver trays with inch tall walls.

Daisy was the first one to place her only Pokémon in one of the tray before snagging one of the applications and a pen with which to fill it out. Luna and Harry both followed her example without hesitation while Dudley dithered until Luna nudged him with her elbow. Harry suspected that Dudley was concerned about how Nurse Joy would react when the scanner (the bulky machine situated behind her counter) revealed the nature of the six Pokémon that had been born from the magical objects they'd carried into the Veil of Death. Harry briefly wondered if he should be wary too before he discarded the thought and turned his attention to the small application he needed to fill out.

An hour later, their Pokémon were returned to them with a clean bill of health alongside of a quartet of Pokémon League Badge Cases (two in medium blue and two in dark pink). Their PokéDexes were then updated with their Official League Registration information that would allow them to participate in the Kanto Pokémon League Challenge. They were also provided with four official rule books, a list of which Pokémon Gyms were participating in this year's Tournament and which Gyms were closed for the season, and the keys to their assigned rooms for the duration of their stay.

The four pre-teens then converged on the public phones so that they could call Pallet Town and let everyone know that they'd made it safely to Viridian City. There was a brief debate over who to call first and who would do the initial calling (settled by two rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors) before Harry initiated the call to Professor Oak while Luna handled the call to Delia.

"_This is Oak's Pokémon Research Laboratory, Professor Oak speaking._"

"Good morning, Professor, it's Harry."

"_Harry! Is everything all right? Is Daisy okay? Did the four of you get into more trouble already?_" Professor Oak demanded in rapid fire the moment Harry had identified himself.

"Yes, everything's fine. Daisy is perfectly fine. No, we're not in any trouble. Nor did we have any more trouble on the way here after we dealt with the Spearow Flock. We reached Viridian City this morning and we just finished registering for the Pokémon League Challenge and checked into a pair of rooms at the Pokémon Center for the next three nights. Did you get my e-mail and my report on Berry Meadow?"

"_Yes, I got your e-mail and the attachments. The only reason why I didn't contact you immediately afterwards was because I had to make arrangements to thin out the flock as you suggested before the Pokémon woke up. Daisy had also sent me a message to reassure me that all of you had survived the encounter unscathed. I'll send you a copy of my report on the countermeasures we enacted to prevent the flock from outgrowing the Meadow a second time and the plans we have to bring the ecosystem along Route One back into proper balance._"

"_And while I am thrilled with the information you were able to collect from your little adventure in Berry Meadow from a researcher's standpoint, as a grandfather, I really would prefer it if you were more careful in the future. I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the photo you sent me of the sleeping Spearow. I don't think I've ever seen that many Pokémon, of any species, gathered in one place before._"

"I'm sorry that I distressed you, sir," Harry contritely apologized as he winced in response to the rebuke. "We already made a group decision that Daisy will be in charge of any and all future off-road explorations to avoid another incident like that in the future."

"_Good,_" Professor Oak replied. "_And for the record, I'm not angry. You are hardly the first Researcher to get into a spot of trouble while doing field research and I'm certain you won't be the last._"

Harry laughed a bit at that as he recalled some of the stories he'd heard from Professor Oak's aides, Daisy, and Ms. Ketchum about Professor Oak's many misadventures. He would then spend another five minutes on the line with the older man before he passed the phone to Daisy so that she could speak to her grandfather next. Less than two minutes later, he was on the phone again; this time with Ms. Ketchum after Dudley passed him the phone. After taking a few minutes to reassure the easily worried woman that he was fine (and that he'd been changing his underwear every morning), he spent a few minutes chatting with Gary and Ash before he handed the phone off to Daisy a second time.

Once all four of them had had a chance to talk to everyone, the quartet hung up and made their way to the stairs leading up to the second floor so that they could drop their packs off in their assigned rooms so they wouldn't have to haul their supplies with them as they explored the town. The four of them then hit the communal showers that were scattered up and down the halls through the dorms. As soon as they'd finished washing up and changing into clean clothes, they sat down to discuss their plans for the day.

"What are we going to do first?" Daisy asked as they gathered in the room that the two boys would be sharing.

"I want to stop in at the Police Station and file a missing person's report before I do any exploring," Harry stated as he pulled out the notes he'd taken during their planning stage last month. "Once I've filed the report, I can request a copy of the portrait that the Police Sketch Artist draws so I can create and print a bunch of fliers to carry, hand out, and post."

Luna hummed a little tune as she tipped her head to the side and closed her sightless eyes. The moment she stopped humming, Luna opened her eyes and announced, "We will drop you off at the Police Station on our way to the PokéMart to replace those supplies that we used on the way here and then pick you up at noon for lunch. You will also need to make certain that you do not embellish the background story that we pieced together from your memories."

In other words, Harry would be stuck at the Police Station all morning and he'd best be careful not to mention magic or traveling between worlds. Letting out a soft sigh, Harry scrubbed as his eyes from beneath his glasses as he replied, "I will be sure to stick to the facts." He then dug into his pack to snag the bag of Poké Coins he'd been carrying around since they had first arrived in this world and tossed the bag to Dudley. "Use what you need from there for my share of the supplies."

"Got it; is there anything in particular you need us to get for you?"

"I just need a couple more of the general healing sprays and replacement bandages and plasters to replace what I used after we were mobbed by the Spearow."

"Do we need to replace any food supplies while we're here?" Daisy inquired as she jotted down the items that Harry needed on the short list she'd made of the things that she personally needed to purchase.

"No, we still have lots left. We don't need any Pokémon food or treats either."

"I was going to grab some more PokéBalls; did you want me to get you a few as well?" Dudley asked as he tucked Harry's bag of coins into the day pack he was wearing over his shoulders alongside of his own money bag.

"Nah, I've still got the five that Professor Oak gave us and I don't plan to capture another Pokémon until my Cyndaquil reaches at least level fifteen. Between Cyndaquil's training, spending time with my older Pokémon, and the research I'm doing for Professor Oak and Professor Elm, I'm not sure I'll have time to look after and tame another new Pokémon at the moment."

"And you have the most Pokémon out of our entire group," Dudley absently pointed out as he patted the two PokéBalls that were attached to his belt.

"Why is that?" Daisy asked curiously as she glanced between their belts.

"Dudley isn't all that fond of ghosts and I have close bond with Moony and Gryffin," Harry answered with a shrug of his shoulders and a slight smirk for his cousin.

"Prat," Dudley mockingly growled as he grabbed the pillow from the bed behind him and tossed it at Harry.

Harry just laughed as he caught the pillow and whacked his cousin over the head with it. His laughter cut off abruptly when Luna pulled the pillow out of his hands and promptly whapped him on the back of the head. The subsequent pillow war would last a good fifteen minutes; all four of them fighting over the two pillows provided with the room as they took turns thumping one another with the fluffy weapons. At the end of their little play-war (which had ended in favor of the two girls), the four of them were all red in the face and giggling over their own silliness.

It took them several minutes to calm down as each time they glanced at one another, they would start snickering once more due to how ruffled they each looked; Luna mostly laughing just because the others were laughing. Once the worst of their giggling fit had passed, the four of them straightened up their clothes and hair before they headed out. Harry would be the last one out of the room and just before he locked the door, Harry snagged hold of Trouble's PokéBall and released the mischievous ghost.

After glancing about to insure that the hallway was clear of both surveillance cameras and strangers, Harry gently snagged hold of his Misdreavus and quietly asked, "_Trouble, would you please stay here and watch over our things in this room and the one right next door while we're out running a few errands?_"

"_Boring!_" Trouble complained as she made herself solid enough that she could enjoy the hug she was being given without sinking into Harry's body.

"_I know but you're the only one that can travel between both rooms without help and watch over everything,_" Harry cajoled as he held back a snort of amusement. "_And you'll be able to scare anyone who sneaks into the rooms._"

"_How long?_"

"_Until lunch time, at least. After lunch, if you're too tired, I'll ask a couple of the others to take a turn. And, I'll let you roam about for a couple of hours after dark so you can scare any troublemakers you come across._"

"_Deal!_" Trouble crowed eagerly as she slipped out of Harry's arms to perform several back flips in midair in response to the prospect of being allowed to scare humans.

"_Then I'll see you at lunch time, Trouble._"

Trouble flew forward to kiss Harry's cheek before she disappeared through the wall to explore the room that the girls had claimed. Harry chuckled to himself over her antics as he closed and locked the door. He then hurried to catch up with the others who were waiting for him down the hall by the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Dudley asked as the four of them entered the stairwell and headed back down to the ground floor.

"I asked Trouble to keep an eye on our stuff while we're gone."

"Why would you do that?" Daisy asked with a small frown.

"Habit," Harry replied after giving the question some thought. "A lot of people and Pokémon pass through the Pokémon Centers on a daily basis and not all of them are trustworthy. I'm also used to us setting a couple of our Pokémon to watch our camp each night since that is what we did on the way here. And security was something the three of us had discussed when we first started planning our journey; before you asked to join us."

"Trouble always follows Harry," Dudley sagely pointed and Harry stuck his tongue out at his cousin in response. "And I'm not just talking about his ghost Pokémon."

Harry merely sighed; his cousin was correct. At least the trouble that had found him over the past five or six months had been far tamer than the trouble that used to find him during his first childhood. Well, that was true so long as he didn't count the ordeal that had led to the three of them winding up in the Pokémon World. Shaking his head, Harry shoved those thoughts out of his mind as he checked his pocket for his notes on the information he would need once he reached the Police Station.

The walk from the Pokémon Center to the Police Station took less than ten minutes; both buildings located in the center of the town where they were easily accessed from all three of the main routes leading into and out of the city. Harry stopped walking the moment they reached the building and simply stared up at the slate gray façade of the stone building as he tried to order his thoughts. The others left him standing in front of the doors just two minutes later; Luna (bless her heart) hustled the other two off when it when became apparent that they would linger so long as Harry made no move to enter the building.

As much as he liked everyone's company, this was something he had to do by himself.

Taking a deep breath, Harry drudged up every ounce of Gryffindor Courage he possessed and briefly ran the fingers of his right hand over Moony's PokéBall before he reached for the door. Stepping through the door, Harry immediately found himself in a small cozy lobby. Off to either side of the entrance, were a handful of coffee tables around which a mismatched assortment of chairs and couches had been arranged. Against either side wall, there were a series of low bookshelves crammed full of magazines, children's toys, and assorted books.

A single wooden desk sat at the back of the room next to a door leading deeper into the building. Seated behind the desk, was a young woman with dark teal hair that had been pulled back in a spiky ponytail wearing a blue uniform with a pale blue inverted triangle on the breast, gold fastenings, and red trim. She also wore a pair of white wrist-length gloves on her hands, a black purse-like pouch slung over one shoulder, and a blue and red hat with a black brim and a gold star centered on the front.

After taking a few seconds to inspect the police officer (she was obviously wearing an official uniform and he doubted they handed things like that out to secretaries and receptionists unless they were qualified officers), Harry crossed the lobby to stand in front of the desk.

"Welcome to the Viridian City Police Department, I'm Officer Rebecca Jenny; how may I help you today?" the woman greeted the moment she caught sight of Harry in her peripheral vision as he stepped up to the desk.

"I wish to file a missing person's report, ma'am," Harry politely stated as he calmly met the woman's reddish-brown eyes.

"Do you have a current photo of the individual you are looking for? What is this person's relationship to you? How long has the individual you are looking for been missing? Where was the last known location of the individual in question? When was the last time you had contact with him or her? Do you suspect foul play? Or did the individual disappear while out in the wild?" Officer Jenny asked in rapid fire as she rose from her seat.

Harry blinked at her and waited a moment to insure the string of questions was complete before he answered, "Er, no, I don't have any photos. The person I'm looking for is my godfather. He's been missing for five years. I don't remember where it was that I last saw him; all I remember was that it was in a dark basement I'd been tricked into sneaking into and he vanished shortly after he turned up to save me from the man who tricked me. That was the last time I saw him. And I don't really remember much of what happened that night."

"Why are you only just now reporting his disappearance? For that matter, where are your parents?"

"After what happened five years ago, I was told my godfather was dead but there had been no funeral at the time because his body was never found. I recently learned that a lot of what I had been told by my relatives growing up was a lie and I thought that maybe his death had been a lie too. This was also the earliest I could apply for a Pokémon Trainer's License so I could go out and search for him."

Officer Jenny pursed her lips and stared at Harry for a long moment before she ordered, "Come with me, young man."

Harry silently complied as the woman rose from her chair and made a beeline for the door leading further into the building. There was a brief moment where he almost tripped over his feet when he discovered that the woman officer was wearing a short blue mini-skirt and high heels. He couldn't help but wonder how in the world she could possibly chase after criminals dressed like that and wearing such impractical shoes. He shook the thought away a split second later as the woman led him into a large room crammed with desks, chairs, file cabinets, towering piles of paperwork, and at least two dozen officers; including at least three more women that looked almost exactly like Officer Jenny.

"Joe, I need you to man the front desk," Officer Jenny barked as she slapped her hand on the messy desk of an officer sleeping with his face pillowed on a three inch pile of folders; the sound of her hand smacking the wood startling the man awake. "Pete, grab your kit and come with me! Sarah, you'd best come with us as well. Alan, fetch me all of the pertinent forms to file a MISPER report."

"On it boss," Joe replied around a yawn as he rose to his feet and shuffled towards the lobby.

Officer Jenny's orders and Joe's rapid exit from the room drew the attention of every single person in the room. Harry automatically flinched in response to the weight of close to two dozen calculating and curious gazes zeroing in on him; an annoying habit that he'd developed not long after he'd entered the wizarding world at age eleven. He had always loathed being the center of attention and despite his inability to feel the usual negative emotions that excess attention used to induce, he still didn't feel all that comfortable being watched by twenty-three unknown adults.

"Everyone else; back to work!" Officer Jenny snapped a heartbeat later as one of her near-identical twins and a man with brown hair carrying a large briefcase fell into step behind Harry; her order making everyone yank their eyes off of Harry and return to their previous tasks.

The four of them passed out of the bullpen and into what Harry would call a typical interrogation room (bare light on the ceiling, a plain table, several uncomfortable looking chairs, and a large mirror on one wall) a split second later. Harry wondered if he should be worried about being led into such a room but dismissed the thought a moment later as he knew that Luna would not have allowed him to walk into the Station alone if there was even a slim chance of him running into trouble.

"Have a seat, young man," Officer Jenny instructed the moment the door clicked shut behind the two officers that had followed them into the room.

Harry silently complied with the stern request and after spending a good three minutes trying to mentally pick out the little differences between Officer Jenny and the woman she'd named as Sarah, he turned his attention to the man that had followed them into the interrogation room. The man he suspected was named Pete had placed the briefcase he'd been carrying on the table and withdrawn a sketch pad, a bundle of colored pencils, several charcoal pencils, a gum eraser, a pencil sharpener, and a large stack of laminated sheets of card stock.

He was about to ask the man if he was a sketch artist when a sharp knock on the door distracted him. Glancing away from the man he'd just been watching, Harry redirected his gaze back to the only exit as the door opened. A younger officer wearing thick glasses pushed into the room and silently passed Officer Jenny a thick folder before he retreated from the room. The file folder was placed on the table a moment later as Officer Jenny took a seat in the chair directly opposite of Harry while Sarah withdrew a notepad and pen and stationed herself behind her twin.

"Allow me to introduce you to my companions," Officer Jenny stated as she gestured first to the man seated off to the side and then to the woman standing behind her. "Seated on your left is Officer Peter Reed and standing behind me is Officer Sarah Jenny. I have asked the two of them to join us as witnesses to your report and so that Officer Reed can create a composite sketch of your godfather based on his physical description since you informed me that you do not have a photograph of the man."

"Are the two of you sisters? And are the other two officers that look like you your sisters too?" Harry asked curiously as he once again bounced his gaze between the two women.

"No, we're all cousins; the Jenny family is very large and has a long history of working in Law Enforcement," Officer Jenny (the original one he'd met; at least, he thought she was – it was kind of hard to tell) stated with a short laugh that Harry suspected meant the cousins fielded similar questions all the time. "Did you have any other questions before we get started?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then why don't you start by telling us your full name, young man," Officer Jenny suggested as she pulled out a cheap ballpoint pen and opened the folder in front of her.

"My name is Harry. Harry Potter."

* * *

**Police Terminology:**

MISPER – Missing person  
Bullpen – an Open Plan Office that contains multiple desks/workstations in one large room w/out partitions to give a semblance of privacy

* * *

**AN:** _Um... not sure what I wanted to say here. I know there was some point I wanted to make but it was drummed out of my mind. Anywho, here's the first chapter of the Viridian City Arc. I hope you enjoyed the introduction of two very familiar characters from the Pokemon Anime/Manga; Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. I don't think I actually used either of them in my first Pokemon/HP crossover. And, in case it wasn't obvious, I am portraying both 'Joy' and 'Jenny' as a last name rather than as first names since it makes more sense to me that way rather than there being dozens of people from the same family bearing the same first name.  
_

_Anyhow, the next chapter will pick up right from where this one left off and will give the background story that our trio of world travelers came up with to explain their pasts and their presence in the Pokemon world. I'll have that one up sometime tomorrow after I finish prepping it for posting. I should also be able to give you a number for how many more chapters there are left in this arc at that time too; cause maybe by then my head will stop pounding. ~ Jenn_

_PS: A word of advice - never eat raw carrots or anything else crunchy when you have a migraine no matter how tasty you think they are; it will only make your head hurt more even if you think you've got your headache tamed with meds._


	12. A Masterfully Woven Tale

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eleven: A Masterfully Woven Tale

_April 02, 2031  
Police Station, Viridian City  
Kanto Region_

"My name is Harry. Harry Potter," Harry replied in response to Officer Jenny's request for him to state his name.

It felt a little weird to leave out his middle name but Professor Oak had advised him to drop the 'James' from his name since using a middle name was not common in this world and it would have drawn far too much attention to him. Dudley had chosen to drop his middle name as well; for much the same reason. Harry's attention was drawn back to Officer Jenny at that point as she asked another question.

"Could you please give me your Trainer ID Number for identification purposes?"

"Zero-six-two-four-four-two and my Researcher's ID Number is zero-zero-one-eight-seven-oh-eight."

"How old are you, Harry?"

"Ten and a half."

"When is your birthday?"

"July thirty-first."

"Where were you born?"

Harry hesitated a moment before he reluctantly answered, "I can't tell you because we're not supposed to give that information to outsiders. We're actually not even supposed to be here in Kanto because it's forbidden for anyone under the age of seventeen to leave the island. The mayor of our island fears that the island will be found and overrun with tourists seeking to hunt down the rarer Pokémon that live on the island. The three of us only left because I couldn't find my godfather anywhere on the island and we looked everywhere for him before we left."

His claim regarding the secrecy surrounding his former 'home' was not a complete fabrication but he still felt rather uncomfortable refusing to give a straight answer to the officer's question. He couldn't exactly tell her that he'd been born in England though, since England did not exist in this world. He also couldn't claim to have been born in one of the six known regions that existed in this world because it would be far too easily for someone to uncover the lie the moment they tried to confirm his claims.

"I see. Can you at least tell me what region you are originally from?"

"The island really isn't a region. We have a legend that claims the island moves around but I don't really know if that is true or not since this is my first time away from the island."

Officer Jenny hummed an acknowledgement before she changed the subject and asked, "What is your father's name?"

"James Potter."

What is your mother's name?"

"Lily Potter."

"Where are your parents right now?"

"Dead. They died on Halloween Night a few months after my first birthday."

Officer Jenny frowned in response to his answer and carefully asked, "Earlier, you had stated that you had been told that your godfather had died five years ago but that you recently found out that he might still be alive. Could the same be true for your parents?"

"As much as I might wish it otherwise, I know my parents are dead. I used to have nightmares about the night they died."

"How did your parents die?"

Harry dropped his gaze to the table and took a steadying breath as he recalled the tale that Dudley and Luna had helped him piece together to explain what happened to his parents in order to avoid the police looking into a terrorist that didn't exist and exclude any mention of magic. His little display also had a side benefit of making it look like he still deeply felt the loss of his parents; even though that was not his intention because he'd made his peace with their deaths a long time ago. Once he had his facts ordered correctly in his mind, Harry quietly answered the question.

"It was a robbery gone wrong. We weren't supposed to be home. A friend of theirs was supposed to have convinced my parents to take me out trick-or-treating. The burglar broke into the house and my dad yelled at my mum to take me and get out of the house while he went to confront him. The man shot my dad. The burglar then came after me and my mum and he threatened me first. He tried to shoot me but my mum protected me and he shot her instead. He tried to shoot me again but my mum knocked his aim off with her dying breath and the bullet hit the gas main that ran to the house."

"The explosion killed the man and destroyed part of the house. I was buried under the rubble but survived because of the way my crib got knocked over in the scuffle and the fact that the explosion had been on the opposite side of the house from where my crib sat. I didn't learn what had happened until years later though. All I remembered for the longest time was the sound of my mother screaming, the loud bang of the gun firing, the blinding flashes of bright light, and the smell of smoke from my nightmares."

An awkward silence fell over the room as soon as Harry stopped speaking; all three officers obviously uncomfortable hearing a child speak of murder so casually. And while the details had been rearranged and the story highly edited, the heart of the story remained true; his parents had been murdered in their home after a friend betrayed them, his mother had sacrificed herself to save him, and he'd somehow survived a deadly encounter with a dangerous man.

"Who took custody of you after your parents died?"

"I was tucked into a basket and dropped on the doorstep of my mother's sister by someone who knew my parents. My aunt and uncle didn't really want me though. They were the ones that had originally told me that my parents had died in a car accident because my father had been drinking and driving. That was just one of many lies they had told me about my parents and my godfather."

"Would you please tell me your aunt and uncle's names?" Officer Jenny inquired as she went from concerned to irritated (at the treatment Harry was reporting and not at him) in the blink of an eye; though she tried not to show it.

"Vernon and Petunia Dursley," Harry answered slowly as he peered at the woman through his fringe. "You won't find them though. They're dead. They died last year. They died in a car crash when a drunk ran them off the road."

This time the truth had only been prettied up a little bit. His aunt and uncle had both died in a car crash that had been caused by another person. Only, it wasn't a drunk driver that had driven them off the road but a jilted witch seeking revenge because Dudley had dropped her like an old shoe when he learned she was only interested in getting close to him to get to Harry. Or, rather, she had wanted to get intimately acquainted with Harry's money.

"Poetic justice," Officer Reed muttered under his breath and Harry blinked at the man in confusion because it was rather odd for a police officer he had only just met to feel so strongly about the deaths of two people he'd never met.

"Could you tell me who Dudley is?" Officer Jenny asked as she shot her fellow officer a quelling look.

"He's my cousin; we grew up together."

Officer Jenny hesitated for a moment before she tentatively asked, "Where is your cousin now?"

"At the PokéMart with Luna and Daisy buying supplies to replace what we used on the way to Viridian City."

"How old is your cousin? Is he you're new guardian? Who are Luna and Daisy? How old are they?"

"Dudley's a month older than I am. He was born on June twenty-third. And no, he's not my guardian. We don't really have a guardian right now, unless you count my godfather but, well, he's sort of still missing. Luna Lovegood is a very dear friend of mine and we were visiting with her the day my aunt and uncle died. She lost her father last year too. He just slipped away one night not long before we came to Kanto to look for my godfather. Daisy is a new friend we made when we got to Kanto. You might know her grandfather, Professor Oak; he took us in when he found us lost in the meadows just outside of Pallet Town."

Once again, Harry had mostly told the truth; though it was more that Luna had slipped away from her father rather than her father slipping away in his sleep one night. While he waited for the woman sitting across from him to ask another question, Harry wondered what the three officers thought of his tragic tale. He had been surrounded by death from such a young age and wherever he went, death was sure to follow. Death had even followed him to Hogwarts. Pushing that truth from his mind, Harry refocused his attention on Officer Jenny.

"Are you one of the three young orphans that Professor Oak took in last fall?"

"Yes. Dudley and Luna were the other two. The three of us are the only family we really have left. Well, except for my godfather. And we did grow really close to the Oaks and the Ketchums over the last few months. How is it that everyone seems to know about us? Nurse Joy knew who we were too but that's because Professor Oak had asked her for a favor when I got really sick shortly after he had found us."

"Professor Oak had called the station shortly after he'd taken you home to find out if there was anyone searching for the three of you," Officer Jenny explained. "He called us back roughly a week later and informed us that he had talked the three of you into staying with him for the winter so that if someone did come to us looking for you, we'd know where to find you. Tell me more about your godfather; starting with his name and birthday."

"His name is Sirius Black and he was born on November twenty-eighth but I'm not sure what year. I met him when I was almost four. He used to tell me stories about my parents. Sirius was also the one that told me how the burglar had found my parent's house. I didn't really get to see him all that much though because my aunt and uncle didn't like him since he had been really close to my parents. We used to write back and forth all the time though."

"Please tell me about the night your godfather vanished in as much detail as you can remember."

"I was given an unsigned message stating my godfather needed me during my history lesson. The message had directions to this really old office building and I was supposed to meet him in the basement late at night. I used a school phone to call Sirius but the person who answered said he wasn't home. One of my friends saw the message and she refused to let me sneak out after dark alone because she didn't think it was safe. So, she got a bunch of our friends and six of us snuck out later that night to follow the directions we were given."

"The building was all dark and empty when we arrived and we snuck in through an unlocked backdoor. It was really creepy and if not for the directions I'd been sent, we'd have gotten lost because the basement was like one big maze with all sorts of weird rooms holding all kinds of junk and stuff. When we finally got to the room where Sirius was supposed to meet me, he wasn't there. It was a trap that an old partner of the burglar that had killed my parents set up because he was made about the way his partner had been killed in the explosion."

"My friends and I were scared and we tried to run away from the man and the thugs he brought with him. My friends and I split up into pairs so it would be harder for them to catch all of us as we tried to get out of the basement but we'd lost the directions and we all got lost. The men knew where they were going though and they chased us all into a single room and we were trapped. That's when my godfather arrived with his friends and the police. A huge fight broke out between the adults as they tried to protect us."

"Both sides were firing their guns, someone started a fire, and then there was an explosion near where my godfather was fighting this crazy woman. That's when my godfather disappeared. I tried to run over to where I'd last seen him but one of my old teachers (who was a friend of my godfather) stopped me because it wasn't safe. I called and cried for Sirius to come back but he never answered me. The other adults insisted he was dead but his body was never found. I ran away to look for him but I don't really remember what happened after that."

"What happened to the people that tried to kidnap you and your friends?" Officer Sarah (because calling her Officer Jenny would have been confusing with both women having the same last name) inquired as she glanced up from the notes she'd been taking.

"All of them were arrested that night. Except the crazy lady that was fighting my godfather. I saw her run away after Sirius disappeared."

"Do you know what happened to that woman?"

"Yeah, she was killed two years later when she and a couple of other thugs attacked our school after the man that had tricked me was broken out of jail along with his thug friends. The rest of the ones that attacked the school with her either died during the fight that broke out after the police arrived or were tossed back in jail."

"Going back to the night your godfather disappeared; were you or any of your friends injured? Did any of your friends also disappear that night?"

"I ended up with a few scrapes and bruises, I think. I was mostly tired and angry back then. I wanted my godfather but believed it when I was told he was dead because he never came back. Luna only had a few cuts and bruises as well. One of two boys that went with us, Neville, he had a broken nose but was otherwise fine. One of the other girls ended up with a broken ankle when one of the men grabbed her. And the last two that went with us spent the last week of the school term in the hospital though. Three of my friends stopped being my friends after that."

"Why did they stop being your friends?"

"They blamed me for what happened even though one of them was the one that had refused to let me go alone. Their families blamed me too. I think they were only friends with me because my godfather was rich anyway and I was supposed to be his heir because he didn't have any kids of his own. Most of his money was lost after he supposedly died though and that was another reason why I started to think maybe he didn't die. Cause if I wanted to disappear, I'd want to take my money with me too."

"Are you certain that he hadn't spent it all before he died? Or that maybe someone else had taken it to keep you from getting it? Did your godfather have any other family members that might have interfered with your inheritance?" Officer Jenny asked in a thoughtful tone.

"I don't think he spent it. At least, not before he disappeared. I know the money didn't disappear until after he did. He did have a couple of greedy relatives but I don't think they got their hands on the money. They didn't stop trying to get the courts to declare his will void so that I couldn't inherit even long after Sirius had disappeared; it was as if they didn't know the money was gone. I know my aunt and uncle didn't take any of it either since they would have gloated about it if they had. Dudley would have been told about any money they had after they died, anyway; and they were flat broke."

"That still doesn't rule out the possibility that someone kidnapped or killed your godfather and hid the body to get their hands on his fortune. What about your parents? Were they also financially well off?"

"Er, I guess, sorta. They weren't quite as rich as Sirius though."

"Earlier, you had said that the man that had killed your parents had been a burglar. Do you know what he was looking to steal from your home?"

"My parents collected rare Pokémon. Some of the Pokémon they collected had been from the more common species but they all had different coloring than what you would normally find in those species," Harry explained; his first outright lie in his story but it had been decided that the three of them needed a way to explain how they'd gotten their odd colored Pokémon from different regions (four of their Pokémon had been completely unknown to Professor Oak).

"Did your godfather also collect rare Pokémon?"

"No, he only ever kept one Pokémon that my dad helped him find. He had a big, black, shaggy dog-like Pokémon that he called Padfoot."

"Do you know what happened to Padfoot?"

"He disappeared either just before or just after my godfather did. I know I hadn't seen Padfoot during the fight that took place that night."

"What happened to your parents Pokémon after they died?"

"Most of them fled from the explosion and the fire I think. A couple of them might have died that night. Someone had found and hidden six of them though."

"Do you know where those six are right now? Can you describe one of them to me?"

"I gave two of them to Luna, one of them to my cousin, and kept the last three. And I can show you two of them, if you'd like; I have them with me," Harry instead as he reached down to unhook Moony and Gryffin's PokéBalls from his trainer belt.

"I've never seen PokéBalls like those before; what kind of PokéBalls are they?" Officer Reed asked as he picked up a couple of his pencils and began rapidly sketching something on his pad.

"I don't know if they have a name. My parents made them for all of their Pokémon."

"Why don't you go ahead and let both of your Pokémon out; providing that they'll both fit in the room with us, that is," Officer Jenny suggested.

Harry nodded and picked up Gryffin's PokéBall and hit the button twice in rapid succession. The PokéBall rapidly expanded in his hand at the same time as it opened up and released the Litleo in a beam of red light. When the light faded, Gryffin was proudly poised on the table with his head held high, his chest thrust forward, his front legs straight with his feet even, his back legs staggered slightly, and his tail parallel to the table. In short, the Litleo had assumed the 'stacked' pose that was typical of show dogs in order to show off a bit.

Once out, Gryffin promptly let out a kittenish roar proclaiming his mightiness to the world and Harry palmed his face in his hands over his Pokémon's antics. The smothered laughter of all three officers in response to Gryffin's behavior didn't help the mild embarrassment that Harry currently felt. And no, the mild embarrassment he felt was not because he was ashamed of his Pokémon.

He was simply feeling like he'd just been caught playing a prank because Gryffin was hamming it up when he'd been trying to present himself as someone who was more mature than your average ten year old. He needed the officers to take him seriously enough to actually file a missing person's report so that they would put out an APB for his godfather. His Pokémon's antics had kind of dispelled the mature image he'd been portraying.

Harry was tackled by the Litleo a heartbeat later and he couldn't help but laugh when the little lion cub attacked his face with his rough tongue. The former wizard brought his hands up to scratch his Pokémon's neck and chin and a loud, rumbling purr cut through the room a moment later as Gryffin left off licking Harry's face, closed his eyes, and leaned into Harry's fingers. After a couple of minutes, Harry settled the Litleo on his lap and snagged Moony's PokéBall so that he could let the Absol out next.

The Disaster Pokémon appeared beside Harry's chair without any of the theatrics that Gryffin had displayed. Harry wasn't really all that surprised by that though, Moony had a rather serious nature.

"I have never seen Pokémon like those two before," Officer Jenny commented as she climbed to her feet and rounded the table so she could get a closer look at them both. "What kind of Pokémon are they? Which region did they originate in? Are either of them a rare species or is it just their coloring that is unusual? Do you know the normal coloring for their individual species?"

"Gryffin is a Litleo and he is from…"

"_My species is found in the Kalos Region,_" Gryffin reminded Harry when the green-eyed pre-teen paused to rack his brain for the information. "_Moony's species is found in Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos._"

"…the Kalos Region," Harry finished as he very carefully focused on Officer Jenny and not either one of his Pokémon so as not to slip into PokéTongue. "Moony is an Absol and his species is found in the Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos Regions. Litleos are very common, though male Litleos are actually somewhat uncommon, and usually have brown coats with tan highlights while Absols are rare and typically have very pale silver-white coats with charcoal-gray skin."

"And the third Pokémon that you kept? Is there a reason why you didn't want to show it to us?"

"I don't have her with me right now or I would have offered to show her to you as well; I left her behind at the Pokémon Center to watch over our things. She's a Misdreavus; they are native to the…"

"_Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Regions,_" Gryffin interjected lowly and Harry made a mental note to memorize the native regions for all of their group's Pokémon in case the question came up again; he couldn't always rely upon one of his Pokémon to conveniently provide him real-time answers, after all.

"…Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Regions and they are rather common."

"Thank you, Harry; you may return both Pokémon to their PokéBalls now or leave them out if you wish."

Harry glanced down at both of his companions and quickly decided to leave them out since they had grown rather used to wandering free of their PokéBalls and he disliked confining them for long periods of time. He made another mental note to talk to the others about exploring a few places outside of the city while they were in the area in order to give the Pokémon a chance to stretch their legs a bit.

"Is there anything else that you can tell us, either about your parents or your godfather, that might help us get a clearer picture on the motives involved for their deaths or possible disappearance in your godfather's case?"

"I don't think so."

"In that case, can you please list all of the clues you've found that point to your godfather disappearing rather than dying five years ago?"

"His body was never found. If he'd been blown up, then there should have been blood or pieces of him left behind. There was no funeral held because there wasn't a body to bury. His will was not read after his 'death' but that might have been because of his relatives trying to have his will thrown out so they could claim his money. His bank account was emptied after he had died. And Padfoot, his Pokémon, disappeared without a trace and if Sirius had died, then Padfoot would have died of grief because they were that close."

"You had mentioned something about discovering your relatives had lied to you after they had died; what exactly did they lie to you about?"

"Well, when I was first told that Sirius had died, they told me that I wasn't allowed to attend his funeral because I was too young. There was never a funeral or memorial service held for my godfather though. They used to make up all kinds of lies about my parents and while Sirius set me straight on some of them, he wasn't aware of all the awful things they used to say. And it wasn't until after my aunt and uncle died that my cousin and I found the six Pokémon that were all that remained of the ones that my parent's had captured hidden in their things."

Harry had originally not wished to blame his aunt and uncle for supposedly 'stealing' his parent's Pokémon but Dudley had talked him into it; he claimed it was poetic justice or something like that. Harry just didn't like speaking ill of the dead since the dead could not defend themselves. Of course, there were exceptions; he had no trouble bad mouthing people like Bellatrix or Voldemort – they had earned their insults fair and square with the terrible things that they had done during their life time.

"Why don't you give us as detailed of a description of your godfather as you can?" Officer Jenny suggested after it became obvious that Harry wasn't going to add anything further.

"Please use the descriptions from these charts to describe your godfather's features," Officer Reed added as he took the stack of laminated sheets and set it down on the table in front of Harry.

Harry closed his eyes and brought up his memory of the last time he'd seen Sirius before he reopened his eyes and glanced down at the first chart depicting overall head and face shape. Each time he found a feature that matched, he'd give that information to the officers before moving onto the next feature chart. It was a rather slow process due to how long it had been since Harry had last seen his godfather and the subtle differences between some of the options on the charts and it was important that he got Sirius's description as close as possible in order to make it easier to find him.

It would take him exactly twenty-eight minutes to give a full description using the provided charts _and_ a height chart painted onto the room's wall. Thankfully, there had been no pressure from the three officers in the room to hurry things along as that would have made it harder for him to provide said description. Once he'd finished, Officer Jenny sent Officer Sarah out to grab Harry a drink from the station's vending machine while Officer Reed touched up the sketch he'd been drawing using Harry's verbal description.

Officer Sarah had just set a can of orange soda on the table in front of Harry when Officer Reed finished his work and presented the finished sketch for Harry's perusal. The man-turned-boy's breath caught in his throat as his eyes landed on the life-like drawing of his godfather that had essentially been created blind outside a few simple descriptions that Harry had provided the man. A wistful smile curled the corners of Harry's mouth as he hungrily stared at the pencil-drawn portrait of the man that had symbolized everything he'd ever wanted in a family when he'd been a teen the first time.

"Can you pinpoint any mistakes in the portrait?" Officer Reed inquired when Harry didn't immediately speak up.

"No, that looks _exactly_ like Sirius."

Officer Reed nodded as he withdrew his sketchpad and Harry had to bite his tongue to keep himself from begging the man to let him look at it a little longer. He might not be able to feel the grief he'd felt over Sirius's 'death' any longer but he could remember how much he'd missed his godfather. And there was nothing stopping him from feeling the burning ache of new-found hope that maybe, just maybe, he might be able to find the man and _finally_ have a chance to be the family they were meant to be after they'd been separated for the majority of the past nineteen years.

"We're going to take a little break to give you a chance to stretch your legs and use the bathroom while Pete scans the sketch of your godfather onto the computer so we can print off a hard copy for the MISPER report you're filing and another for the bulletin board in the bullpen."

"Do you think I could get a copy of the sketch as well? Please…? I had plans to make up a flier that I could hang up and hand out to people as I look for him and having a picture would make it much easy for people to recall if they'd seen him or not."

"Yes, we'll be more than happy to provide you with a copy," Officer Jenny agreed with a small smile. "While you are waiting for that, did you want one of us to show you where the restrooms are located?"

"No thank you, I'm fine right now."

"Very well, we'll be back in about twenty minutes to finish your interview."

All three officers filed out of the room at that point and left Harry alone with his Pokémon. Harry let out a soft sigh as he watched the door close behind him before he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. It had been an exhausting morning so far and it wasn't even over yet; Luna had warned him that the police would want descriptions of the 'bad' guys that had been mentioned in their background story. Harry had at first thought to claim that he didn't remember them but Luna talked him out of it; reminding him that there was a very slight chance that one of their old enemies might get pushed through the Veil and end up in this world as well.

The idea that he could get those people that had betrayed him in trouble on the off chance that they followed the trio appealed to the displaced wizard and so he had agreed to give names and descriptions of those individuals if the officers asked for them. His former friends would appear right at the top of that little list. Delores Umbridge and Kingsley Shacklebolt were on the list as well. The only potential drawback to adding his friends was the chance that they too would end up paying half of their lives to gain access to this world and they would hardly be seen as threats of they appeared as children like Harry, Dudley, and Luna had.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Harry sat up to open the soda he'd been given. He then spent the rest of his break lavishing attention on Moony, Gryffin, and his Cyndaquil (the pre-teen letting out his newest Pokémon so he didn't feel left out) in order to pass the time. Twenty-two minutes later, the three adults returned and Officer Jenny passed Harry a folder. Inside of the folder, alongside three copies of Sirius's sketch, he found a copy of the missing person report that had been filed on his behalf.

"Go ahead and skim through the report to make certain all of the facts are correct," Officer Jenny urged as the three officers retook their earlier positions while seemingly ignoring the additional presence of a third Pokémon; though there was no way the three of them could have missed the Cyndaquil seated as he was on Harry's right shoulder.

As he flipped back to the first page of the report, Gryffin reared up out of Harry's lap to plant his paws on the table so that he too could read through it (much to the amusement of the officers). Harry automatically slipped into PokéTongue as he helped the Litleo sound out those words he hadn't yet learned; his voice thankfully dropping low enough that the three adults couldn't make out what he was saying. They just assumed that he was mumbling to himself under his breath as he read through the report.

Once he reached the end of the report, Harry closed the file and pushed it across the table as he stated, "I didn't see any mistakes."

"That is your copy of the report," Officer Jenny declared as she pushed the folder back at him.

"Thank you, Officer Jenny. Does this mean we're done now?"

"Not quite; I'd like for you to give me the names and descriptions of the people who were involved in your attempted kidnapping on the night your godfather disappeared and the attack your school a few years later. There is a chance that one of them might have been involved in your godfather's disappearance and we like to keep a record of all known criminals in the event that they are released from prison and turn up in the area looking to start more trouble. Please be sure to include those who died as well; since it is possible that someone might have seen them with your godfather prior to their deaths."

Harry let out a soft sigh (he'd kind of hoped he could have left out those that were already dead) before he set his copy of the missing person report aside so he could flip through the feature charts again. He then began with the first person on his mental list of living enemies, "The first person is a woman named Delores Umbridge…"

By the time he finished describing everyone he'd decided to include (there were a handful of people he had not bothered to bring up; like Voldemort, Dumbledore, and Greyback – all three of whom were dead), it was thirteen minutes after noon and he was starving.

* * *

**Notes: **Police Terminology

APB – All Points Bulletin  
Bullpen – an Open Plan Office that contains multiple desks/workstations in one large room w/out partitions to give a semblance of privacy  
MISPER – Missing person

* * *

**AN:** _And there you have the carefully edited and partially fabricated background story that our trio of world travelers will be using to hide the fact that they were magically transported to the PokeVerse. In case you didn't pick up on it in the story, I subtracted ten years from Harry's age to compute the new age at which he met Sirius and for when Sirius fell through the Veil. I also swapped spell-fire for gun-fire. I should also point out that this is NOT the full background story that the three of the put together; it is just one small portion of it and only the important parts will make it into future chapters. I think that covers everything I needed to say about this chapter. _

_Next, I made a mistake in an earlier author's note when referring to the shiny coloring of the Pokemon; Harry's shiny Misdreavus's colors are NOT canon - I didn't like a green Misdreavus and instead used blue, silver, and gold to make her more ghost-like and to make a connection to the coloring of the original Invisibility Cloak. So far, hers are the only colors that are not canon (and I did go back and fix that author's note - not sure how I goofed on that one anyway since I knew her colors weren't canon). So, thank you to everyone who pointed that out to me. _

_And lastly, there are two more chapters remaining in this arc and they should be up tomorrow and Wednesday; providing I don't run into any problems. I'd also like to thank everyone who sent me well wishes; the last traces of my migraine has finally passed and staring at the computer screen no longer melts my brain. Hopefully when the next one hits I'll be paying close enough attention to catch it in time to stamp it out before it puts me down for another three days - something that I'm usually much better about doing because I get migraines frequently but usually take my meds before they get to the point where I can't function._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. For those who are wondering about my other WIPs, I'll be deciding on which story will be updated next by the time I post the last chapter in this arc and will announce it at the bottom of that chapter as well as making a note of it on my author's page. I'll also be spending more time replying to PMs now that I can read them. ~ Jenn_


	13. A Challenge Issued

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twelve: A Challenge Issued

_April 02, 2031  
Police Station, Viridian City  
Kanto Region_

"Did you wish for us to provide you with a copy of these sketches as well?" Officer Reed inquired as he packed up his sketch kit once Harry had confirmed his final sketch (of the deceased Bellatrix Lestrange) had been accurate.

Harry's first inclination was to decline before it occurred to him that he should send a copy of those sketches to the Lab so that Professor Oak would be able to recognize any of them if they ended up in Berry Meadow like he and the others had back in November. Decision made, Harry nodded as he stated, "Yes, please."

"Very well, I'll have those ready for you in a bit," Officer Reed stated before he hurried out of the room with Officer Sarah on his heels.

"Will you be returning to Pallet Town after this?" Officer Jenny inquired as she organized the notes she'd taken over the course of the morning.

"No, I plan to scour the entire world until I find my godfather. My friends and I also signed up to participate in Kanto's Pokémon League Challenge and I promised Professor Oak that I would help him with his Pokémon research."

"That's a lot of ground to cover."

"I know it is but this is something that I have to do; Sirius is the only family I have aside from Dudley and my friends and I owe it to him to do everything I can to learn the truth about what happened to him five years ago."

"I understand, Harry," Officer Jenny replied as she reached across the table to briefly clasp Harry's hand before she climbed to her feet and asked, "Would you like me to take you on a tour of the station while we wait for Pete to finish transferring his sketches to the server?"

"Sure," Harry readily agreed; he was rather tired of looking at the same four walls. "Is it okay if I leave my Pokémon out of their PokéBalls?"

"So long as they behave themselves, it won't be a problem."

Harry grinned in response to her reply as he scooped Gryffin off his lap and set the Litleo on his left shoulder before he collected the folder holding his copy of the report he'd filed and climbed to his feet. He then trailed after Officer Jenny as she stepped out of the room; his hand lightly resting on Moony's back as the Disaster Pokémon paced alongside of him on his left. The next half an hour would see Harry being introduced to another half a dozen officers as Officer Jenny escorted him through the police station.

He got to see the holding cells (all of them currently empty), the holding kennel for lost or stolen Pokémon that were waiting to be returned to their trainers or released into the wild, and the Growlithe Kennels where the officers' Pokémon partners were housed when they weren't on duty. He also got to see the Pokémon training grounds out behind the station where the officers trained alongside their Pokémon between assignments. Most of the Pokémon he encountered during the tour were predominately Growlithes though there were also Arcanines, Squirtles, Wartortles, and a lone Vulpix.

After receiving permission from Officer Jenny, Harry was allowed to enter each of the new Pokémon species into his PokéDex for future reference. He was even given permission to take a few pictures of the Pokémon with their partners (which he would later send to Daisy so they could be added to the photo journals that she was making). The officer in charge of the Growlithe Kennel (which wasn't just for Growlithes despite its name) had even talked Harry into letting him take a picture of Harry surrounded by a dozen Growlithes and a pair of Arcanines.

At the end of the tour, Harry was passed a thick folder holding copies of the sketches that Officer Reed had drawn before he was led back to the lobby by Officer Jenny.

"We've sent an APB for your godfather to our sister stations throughout Kanto," Officer Jenny stated the moment they entered the lobby. "Each time you visit a new city, I would advise you to check in with the local officers at the station to get an update on your case's status before you start searching the city independently. That will also give you a chance to provide us with any new clues that you manage to uncover through your efforts. If someone steps forward claiming to be your godfather, we will contact you to make arrangements for you to meet with them to confirm their identity."

"Thank you, Officer Jenny; I appreciate everything you're doing to help me find Sirius," Harry replied as he shook the woman's hand.

"That's what we're here for, Harry."

Officer Jenny excused herself a moment later and Harry watched her disappear through the door leading back into the bullpen. He turned away from the door the moment it swung shut behind her and let his gaze drift to the waiting area to search for the others. He found them in the process of climbing to their feet now that it was clear that he was finished. Harry smiled at them and headed in their direction after he returned his Pokémon to their PokéBalls.

"How did it go?" Dudley inquired as Harry reached them.

"Fine. The only reason it took so long was because of the detailed descriptions they wanted for their records. I would have been done a half an hour earlier but I asked for copies of all the sketches that were made so I can give them to Professor Oak so he'll know who to watch out for if anyone else shows up. Were you guys waiting long?"

"No, we got here about six minutes before you were escorted out of the back," Daisy answered as the four of them unconsciously headed towards the door.

"That's good to know. Though, if you guys had shown up about forty minutes ago, you might have been invited to join me when Officer Jenny gave me a tour of the Police Station. I even got to meet some of the officers' Pokémon partners and received permission to take pictures of some of them. Daisy, I'll forward you copies of the pictures I took after we get lunch."

Daisy flashed Harry a pleased grin in response to his willingness to share the photos he'd taken so she could add them to the photo journals without her needing to ask. He gave her a smile in return before he ducked his head to hide the light blush that painted his cheeks due to the pleased embarrassment he felt for making her happy with such a simple gesture. Beside him, Luna let out a soft giggle as she lightly bumped her shoulder against his before she danced on ahead of the others while humming an unfamiliar tune.

They reached the Pokémon Center a few minutes later, and the four of them headed straight to the cafeteria to order lunch for themselves and their Pokémon. Instead of eating in the cafeteria, the four children collected their food and headed up to the second floor and piled into Harry and Dudley's room again by mutual agreement. Trouble met them at the door with a creepy scream that startled Dudley and Daisy. Harry just rolled his eyes in response to the mischievous ghost's antics as he set the tray he was carrying down on the nightstand beside the bed he'd claimed.

"_Did you have any trouble, Trouble?_" Harry asked before he wrinkled his nose as he realized how weird it was to ask Trouble if she had run into trouble and made a mental note to find an appropriate synonym to use in the future.

"_No, it was boring, boring, boring! There was no one to scare._"

"_I'm sorry that you were bored but I'm glad you didn't have any problems. Are you hungry? Or would you like to rest in your PokéBall for a while?_"

"_Berry cake?_" Trouble asked in a hopeful tone as she drifted closer to Harry's pack; the floating Pokémon referring to the fruitcakes that Ms. Ketchum had made for all of their Pokémon.

"_Sure,_" Harry agreed without hesitation; he felt his Misdreavus had earned the treat.

He dug out two of the fruitcakes a moment later and passed them both to the little ghost before he released the rest of his Pokémon so that they could eat too. Harry then snagged his lunch and retreated to the bed since the floor was rather crowded due to the fact that the others had also released their Pokémon. It was a good thing that most of their Pokémon companions were fairly small or they would have had a much harder time squeezing into the room. Moony would join Harry on the bed a moment later to escape from the less experienced Pokémon who tended to get rowdy when they were out of their PokéBalls.

In between bites of their lunch, the four of them discussed their plans for the afternoon. It wouldn't take them long to decide to split up for a few hours. The girls planned to stay at the Pokémon Center (Daisy to sort through her photos so she could get the ones for the journals printed and Luna to train her Pokémon and keep Daisy company) while the two boys had instead opted to explore the city. Harry also planned to stop by the Pidgey Post Office to mail the packet of sketches and his copy of the police report to Professor Oak and order the fliers.

When he and Dudley left after lunch, Harry would leave Moony behind to watch over their things and the girls while he took Trouble with him. Just before they left the building, Harry asked Nurse Joy for directions to the Pidgey Post Office so they wouldn't get lost looking for the place. The leisurely walk to the Post Office passed in companionable silence as the two cousins took in their surroundings. Sure, they'd visited Viridian City a few times with Ms. Ketchum or Professor Oak but they hadn't really had much of a chance to explore the place on their own at the time.

The Pidgey Post Office was located on the north-western corner of the city in one of the less populated sectors where the large flocks of trained Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot that were used to deliver post would not disturb others. The world wide company was a subsidiary company of Pokémon Air that usually handled local deliveries with weekly shipments being sent to their sister offices in other cities for distribution. They were basically a combination Postal Office and Owl Post Office from the trio's former world.

The differences between Pidgey Post and Pokémon Air (as explained to him by Professor Oak) was that Pidgey Post only used Pidgey and the two evolutionary forms of Pidgey, only used 'riders' for large shipments between cities, and had a strict package size and weight limit. Pokémon Air, on the other hand, used a wide range of Flying Pokémon, sent riders out with each shipment, and had far looser package size and weight limits. Because of those differences, the two companies were not in direct competition with each other.

Neither were the other two subsidiaries of Pokémon Air; Pokémon Ground Transport and Ponyta Express. The former handled any shipment or package that was too large or too heavy for a Flying Pokémon to carry and the latter delivered post in those areas where inclement weather posed a serious danger to Flying Pokémon (such as the snow bound town of Snowpoint City in the Sinnoh Region).

The moment Harry stepped into the building, he froze as his ears were assaulted by well over a hundred Pokémon voices all seemingly talking at once. Those species of birds and Bird Pokémon that congregated in flocks tended to be highly sociable creatures and as such, they were usually a very noisy lot. The Spearow flock that they'd run into a few days earlier had been an exception as they'd remained deathly quiet until they had made themselves known and then they had displayed more of a hive-minded mentality as the flock as whole only seemed to be able to retain a single thought.

The Flying Pokémon kept by the Pidgey Post Office were not so stunted despite having comparable numbers. Part of that could be attributed to the training they received as delivery birds while the rest was due to the overall nature and instincts of Pidgey species as a whole. Harry had spent more than enough time with smaller flocks of Pidgey to know that they were chatting little gossips that never seemed to shut up or sit still. He used to think it was a rather endearing trait of the friendly little birds but due to the sheer number of the creatures currently present, Harry couldn't even hear himself think above the racket they were making.

It wasn't that they were being overly loud, they weren't; the birds weren't actually even inside the room. It was simply the sheer number of voices talking at once that drowned everything out as the sound of their voices drifted through an open door at the back of the office that led to the large indoor aviary where the Pokémon were kept. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had been for the fact that the office consisted of one large room with an extra high ceiling and the sound of the Pokémon chatting with one another was slightly amplified by the acoustics of the room.

"Harry…? Harry!" Dudley called as he grabbed hold of Harry's arm and jostled him a bit to get his attention. Harry turned his head towards his cousin at the touch since he hadn't actually heard the other boy calling to him above the din that the Pokémon were making. "What's wrong?"

"_What?_" Harry asked as he unintentionally slipped into PokéTongue because all he could focus on was the chatter pouring through the open door.

"In English!" Dudley hissed as he leaned closer to Harry while his eyes scanned the room to see if any of the staff had heard Harry speaking the Pokémon language.

"_What was that? I can't hear you over the Pokémon._"

Dudley frowned at Harry and Harry gave him a confused look in return as he still hadn't realized he'd slipped into PokéTongue when he'd responded to his cousin. The blond then glanced about the office a second time before he pulled Harry back outside and dragged him a short distance away to an empty alley where they wouldn't be overheard. The moment the door closed behind them, the cacophony cut off and Harry let out a sigh of relief as the assault on his ears finally ended.

"Are you mad?" Dudley demanded the moment he'd confirmed that they were alone. "Why in the world did you start talking in Pokémon Speech in the middle of the office where anyone could have overheard you?"

"I did?" Harry asked with a slight frown. "I didn't know."

"How could you not know? What exactly happened anyway? I mean, you just sort of froze up the moment we stepped inside of the office."

"Do you remember the flocks of Pidgey that would sometimes show up at the Lab?"

"Yeah, they were a noisy bunch."

"Did you hear the ones in the Post Office?"

"Kind of hard to not hear them; but they weren't really all that loud. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"All I could hear when I stepped inside was the Pokémon chattering at each other. There were so many of them talking that I couldn't hear anything or anyone else and I could barely think over the sound of their voices. That's probably why I didn't realize that I wasn't answering you in human speech once you got my attention by grabbing me."

"You didn't have that problem with the flocks at the lab," Dudley pointed out with a frown.

"There were never more than two dozen Pokémon in those flocks and they only showed up while I was outside," Harry pointed out as he ran a hand through his hair. "I think the fact that the ones I just heard were housed inside of a building made it worse because their voices bounced off the walls instead of fading into nothing."

"Is that going to happen every time you step into a building full of talking Pokémon?"

"I don't know. Maybe. It's probably something that I'm going to have to work on; like giving orders in human speech while battling."

"That isn't going to help us right this minute though," Dudley pointed out as he crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips as he contemplated the problem. "I guess I'm going to have to be the one to send that file to Professor Oak for you. And you probably better tell me exactly what you want the fliers to say so that I can order them for you. While I'm taking care of that, you can stand by the door and work on trying to block out the voices."

"Thanks, Dudley."

"Yeah, well, someone has to keep you out of trouble. Good thing Luna talked you out of coming alone like you had originally wanted to. Hey, do you think she knew what would happen?"

"Probably," Harry agreed with a soft snort. "She did say we each had lessons we'd have to learn through experience." He then offered the sketch file, the letter that he'd written for Professor Oak, and the extra sketch of Sirius that he planned to use for the fliers to Dudley. "Here, you'd better take these now. The letter and the file both are for Professor Oak and the picture of Sirius is for the flier."

"Got it. How many fliers did you want to order?"

"I was thinking two hundred to start and if we run out, I can always pay to have more printed later."

"Okay, let's get this done."

Harry followed Dudley back to the Pidgey Post Office and braced himself as he stepped back into the building a second time. The fact that he knew what to expect this time meant that it was a little easier for him to at least remain partially aware of his surroundings. He still had trouble thinking over the endless babble pouring through the open door. It was also more than a little difficult to ignore the constant flow of multiple conversations and instead of trying to cut himself off completely, he tried to focus on a single voice.

He easily lost track of time as he worked on the attempt and before he knew it, Dudley had finished taking care of both errands and reappeared beside Harry in order to drag him outside.

"How did it go?" Dudley asked as soon as they were outside.

"I'm going to need lots of practice," Harry replied around a sigh. "Maybe starting with a small group will make it easier to build up a tolerance for an endless stream of background chatter. I could have our Pokémon hold round robins to fill the room with noise or something for an hour or two each time we rent a room for the night. I could also ask Professor Oak if he has any suggestions that might help me since I'll need to call him and let him know about this latest quirk regarding my ability anyway."

"I foresee another round of experiments in your future," Dudley chortled as the two of them wandered along without really paying any attention to where they were going.

"And since it will be at least three months before we're in Pallet Town again, Professor Oak will have more than enough time to cook up at least another dozen experiments in another attempt to uncover any other limits or negative aspects of my ability," Harry groaned in mock dismay.

"Pfft, you're going to enjoy those experiments and you know it."

"True, but that's because it's fun to tease Professor Oak about his mad scientist tendencies."

The two of them shared a laugh as they recalled the way the older man had spluttered in shock the first time Dudley had called him a mad scientist after he'd spent close to forty minutes waxing poetically about the experiments he was having Harry perform. What made it even better was the fact that some of the professor's aides had gone about pretending to be hunchbacked servants with creepy voices and mad cackles every time they overhead the boys tease Professor Oak about it after that.

The two boys would spend the next two hours wandering along the northern edge of town until they reached the Viridian City Pokémon Gym that sat on the north-eastern corner of the small city. The large building had been built in the same style as the Pokémon Center (boxy with the corners cut) but was between four and six times larger. The roof of the building was a dark lime green, the walls were a medium gray, and the lower third of the building had been painted red. Eager to see how this Gym differed from the one in Celadon City only to be disappointed once they spotted the notice that said the Gym was closed until June.

"Huh, I wonder why it's closed," Dudley mused as he tried to peek through the tinted glass doors since all of the ground level windows appeared to have been painted over.

"Is this Gym on the list of Gyms participating in this year's challenge?"

"I don't know; I didn't read through the list we were given this morning."

"We can check when we return to the Pokémon Center later," Harry reminded his cousin as he turned away from the building and began heading back towards town.

Dudley hummed an agreement as he hurried to catch up with Harry. Unknown to the two boys, a pair of brooding dark eyes followed their progress as they meandered southwards from one of the uppermost windows of the Gym. Their unseen watcher would lose sight of them less than ten minutes later when the boys jumped down the low cliff that separated the Gym from Viridian City along the southern edge of the Gym's extensive grounds. Both boys soon put all thoughts of the Pokémon Gym out of their mind as they discussed future training for themselves and their Pokémon.

Their animated discussion on battle tactics was disrupted several minutes later when their conversation caught the attention of a small group of thirteen and fourteen year olds heading in the opposite direction. The two cousins slowed to a stop when one of the teens loudly asked, "Oi, are the two of you registered Trainers?"

"Yeah, we are," Dudley replied as the two pre-teens eyed the older boys with curiosity. "Why?"

"What do you say we have us a Battle or two? My buddies and I could use a little warm up before we face the Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym to get our first badge."

"We were just at the Gym; it's closed until June," Harry idly remarked as he silently counted the number of PokéBalls he could see hanging from each teen's belt.

"What!? What do you mean the Gym is closed? Why would they close the Gym for so long when this year's Challenge has only just officially started?" the same boy demanded as he scowled at them in response to the news they'd just given him.

"The sign didn't say," Dudley replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Did you still want to Battle? My Pokémon could use the experience since I've only ever had him battling wild Pokémon."

"Sure, why not? Trouncing a couple of babies will cheer me up since we wasted an entire day coming all the way out here for nothing, apparently."

Harry snorted in amusement when Dudley growled and cracked his knuckles in response to the implication that the two cousins would be pushovers simply because they were fairly new Trainers. His cousin might not be a bully any longer but that didn't mean he'd forgotten how to play the intimidation game. He also hadn't forgotten any of the skills he'd been taught by his boxing coach – even if he was a little out of practice since they'd been sent to this world.

"Challenge accepted," Dudley barked with a sharp grin that said he was really looking forward to kicking someone's ass in return for the insult offered.

"There's an empty field we can use about a mile west of the Pokémon Gym," Harry added as he spun on his heel so they could retrace their steps.

"Lead the way," the teen ordered as the group of older boys began moving as one.

Harry rolled his eyes in response to the commanding tone the other boy used but didn't hesitate to comply with the request since he was interested in participating in his first official Trainer Battle. It wouldn't take them long to reach the field that Harry and Dudley had passed through earlier. Harry then took a seat on the old fence that half encircled the large plot of bare dirt and scraggly weeds; the green-eyed man-turned-boy allowing his cousin to have first battle.

"Since there are two of you and six of us, the rules are as follows; each of you will face three of us one right after another and the first person out of usable Pokémon per round is the looser and the prize is one hundred Poké per Battle lost," a lanky teen with sandy brown hair declared as soon as he stepped onto the field. "If you lose the first or second Battle and are unable to fight in the rest of your rounds, then you automatically forfeit those Battles."

"Works for me," Dudley agreed as he plucked Rex's PokéBall off of his belt and clicked the button once to enlarge the plain red and white ball. "Who's first?"

"I am!" the teen that had originally issued the challenge stated as he strode up to Dudley and pulled out his PokéDex in order to register the Battle.

Dudley pulled his out a heartbeat later and the two of them engaged the wireless function to swap Trainer Info and set the forfeit amount. Once that was done, both boys put away their PokéDexes and moved to the middle of the field. The older teen would then release his first Pokémon; a Raticate – the evolved form of Rattata. Dudley eyed the newly released Pokémon for a brief moment before he clicked the button on the PokéBall in his hand a second time to release his Totodile.

Rex came out ready and raring for a fight; the little crocodile-like creature doing a happy little dance as he grinned manically at his larger opponent. Both Pokémon immediately proceeded to trade insults while they waited for someone to start the Battle. Harry had to smother his laughter least his behavior give away the fact that he understood every word that both Pokémon were slinging back and forth.

After making certain that both sides were ready, the lanky teen drawled, "Ready! Set! Fight!"

"Raticate, use **Tail Whip**."

"Rex, duck and use **Scratch**," Dudley instructed a split second after the older boy had finished giving the order and his Totodile dropped down onto his belly before he rolled over and swiped his sharp claws towards the Raticate's hind quarters as the larger Pokémon's tail soared harmlessly over the Water Pokémon's smaller body.

"Watch out, Raticate!"

The teen's cry came too late and the Mouse Pokémon let out a hiss of pain as Totodile's claws raked his flank and left behind a trio of distinct scratch lines that glowed red for a moment before they faded. Harry let out a whooping cheer over the fact that Rex had scored the first hit while the Pokémon in question did another little happy dance in order to taunt his opponent.

"Raticate, use **Tackle**!" the teen snapped out as soon as his Pokémon recovered.

"Dodge him and then use **Bite**, Rex," Dudley calmly countered as the Raticate spun around and tried to knock Rex off of his feet.

The still dancing Rex shifted to the left by two steps at the last second before he whipped his head around to snap his huge jaws down on the side of the Raticate's neck as it barreled by him. The Raticate carried Rex a dozen yards across the field before it collapsed in a dead faint due to the crushing pain that was being applied to its neck. The Raticate's Trainer gaped in shock over the relatively quick loss before he snapped his mouth shut on returned his defeated Pokémon to its PokéBall.

"Raticate is no longer able to battle!" the lanky teen announced over the boos and hisses that the other four teens were voicing while Harry cheered loudly as Rex bounced back to Dudley's side.

By that time, Dudley's opponent had sent out his next Pokémon which turned out to be a grumpy little Spearow and Dudley briefly glanced in Harry's direction with a slight smirk when Rex went from playful to angry at the sight of the small bird. Harry slapped a hand over his mouth to smother his snickers; this next fight was going to be even shorter. Rex had developed a deep dislike of Spearow after their brief mobbing from the Berry Meadow flock (mostly due to the fact that he'd not been allowed to **Bite** any of the bird Pokémon that had dared attack them.

"Spearow, attack with **Peck**," the teen ordered as soon as the Flying Pokémon finished materializing.

"Hold your ground and use **Leer**, Rex."

"Veer away from his counter attack and use **Peck** again!"

"Hold… hold… and use **Bite** now!" Dudley instructed; his Totodile firmly standing his ground as the Spearow bore down on him until the very last second. The moment the bird Pokémon was too close to swerve away, Rex opened his jaws and snapped down on the Spearow; the Big Jaw Pokémon all but swallowing the bird in one bite.

"Spearow!"

"Spearow is unable to continue!"

"Damn it!" the teen facing Dudley cursed as he recalled his Spearow without waiting for Rex to release the bird from his mouth. He then released his last Pokémon which turned out to be a small purple and yellow snake. Palming his PokéDex, Harry flipped it open and used the scanning function to identify the unfamiliar Pokémon.

"Ekans, the Snake Pokémon. Moving silently and stealthily, it eats the eggs of birds, such as Pidgey and Spearow, whole."

"Huh, interesting," Harry mused as he snapped his PokéDex closed and glanced up just in time to see Rex rake his claws down the side of the Snake Pokémon. Dudley's Totodile then turned around and caught the snake in his mouth and chomped down on it before the Ekans could attack him in return.

"I lost…?" the teen demanded in a shocked voice.

"Good job, Rex!" Dudley praised as the Totodile tap danced in victory with the now unconscious Snake Pokémon still dangling from his jaws. "Go ahead and let him go now, Rex."

Dudley's final two battles would end in his favor as well and Rex ended up gaining two full levels of experience from the nine fights; raising him to level thirteen. The feisty Totodile was still eager to fight even after the night straight Pokémon he faced and Harry couldn't help but admire the stamina of his cousin's newest Pokémon. The two pre-teens then traded places so that Harry could take his turn.

As he released his Cyndaquil from his PokéBall, Harry felt excitement bubble up inside him as he prepared to guide his shyest partner through the coming Battles. A shark-like grin spread across Harry's face as he took in the short teen with long green hair facing off against him with a Rattata and asked, "Shall we get this show on the road?"

Both cousins would walk away from the field three hundred Poké richer an hour later.

* * *

**Notes: **Police Terminology

APB – All Points Bulletin  
Bullpen – an Open Plan Office that contains multiple desks/workstations in one large room w/out partitions to give a semblance of privacy

* * *

**AN:** _Cutting it close here but I had to comb through the entire chapter after I uploaded it to make certain all of the formatting of the Attack Moves were there as well as making certain the __PokéDex entry was underlined. It's rather annoying when my formatting vanishes the moment the file is uploaded but I can deal with it so long as I don't have to hand code all of the html (that would take far too long, even if I could do it in my sleep).  
_

_Anyway, here's today's chapter. There'll be one more chappie posted tomorrow and then that will be it for this fic until I get my other stories cleaned up and updated as well. And we finally had an official Trainer Battle here. The next milestone we'll see before the end of the arc is the first wild capture but I'm not telling you who or what. _

_Anywho, I'll catch you tomorrow about this same time, probably, since I need to clean it up a little before I upload and reformat it. ~ Jenn_

**09-30-15:**_ Fixed out a couple of capitalization errors._


	14. A Thief in the Grass

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: A Thief in the Grass

_April 02, 2031  
Pokémon Center, Viridian City  
Kanto Region_

The two cousins were quick to put some distance between themselves and the group that they'd just trounced in case the older boys wished to get revenge for their defeat with their fists. Once they were clear, the two pre-teens shared a glance before they started snickering over the looks of pure shock on the teens' faces once the six older boys had realized they had just lost a total of eighteen Battles between them to two younger boys fighting with only one Pokémon each. And it wasn't because their Pokémon were seriously overpowered when compared to their opponents' Pokémon.

It was all a matter of training and trust; Dudley and Harry had spent several days bonding with their Starter Pokémon and learning how to fight with them against a number of wild Pokémon. The fact that Harry could understand their partners meant that he could translate for all of the Pokémon in their Party and insure that there were no misunderstandings between Trainer and Pokémon. On top of that, he could get insider information on what type of training would be best to improve their Pokémon's Stats and Experience.

Glancing down at the sore and exhausted Fire Pokémon currently curled up in his arms (he hadn't wanted to stick him back in his PokéBall after seeing him take a beating in that last fight), Harry smiled proudly as he leaned down and quietly praised, "_You are so awesome, little one._"

If a Pokémon could blush, his Cyndaquil would have turned bright red in pleased embarrassment. Instead, the small Fire Mouse let out a squeak of embarrassment and buried his face in Harry's shirt. Harry chuckled softly under his breath and planted a quick kiss to his partner's head; his littlest friend was just so adorably shy. Dudley let out a soft snort of amusement from his left and Harry turned to stick his tongue out at his cousin; Dudley had been even sappier when he'd been praising Rex's nine straight victories earlier.

"Did you still want to explore the town some more?" Harry asked his cousin a dozen yards later.

"Nah, it's getting late and the girls will have our hides if we stay out after dark," Dudley replied after a brief glance in the direction of the setting sun. "Besides, I know your Cyndaquil needs to be healed. I almost can't believe he that he managed to win that last fight; I thought for certain he was going down for the count when that Geodude hit him with that small shower of rocks two times in a row."

"I almost called him back after he got hit the second time but before I could, the Geodude taunted him about being a weak little mouse and that was when Cyndaquil pushed himself up and growled out that he wasn't done yet. That was the first time I've ever seen him ignite the flames on his back and I'm certain that the last **Ember** he used was hotter than Gryffin's **Ember**."

"I think I managed to snap a picture of him on fire; I just don't know if it will be any good or not."

"I didn't even think to take any pictures of Rex's Battles," Harry replied as they crossed another street before turning the corner so they could make their way back to the Pokémon Center.

"I wouldn't worry about it; I'm sure that Daisy will more than make up for it the next time the girls are with us when we get into a Battle with another Trainer."

"True, she's rather trigger-happy when it comes to that camera of hers. I think she gets it from her grandfather; that man was always walking around snapping pictures when you least expected it."

"You're just annoyed that he managed to catch you unawares so many times," Dudley quipped as he smirked at Harry. "That or you just don't like the fact that he has photographic proof that you're a big softy when it comes to Pokémon. I counted at least two dozen snapshots of you cuddling with different Pokémon in the photo album that he gave to you for Christmas. There was even that one of you napping on the couch beneath a blanket of Pokémon."

"I was cold and the Pokémon are like living hot water bottles; especially the Fire Types," Harry muttered as his cheeks turned pink. "At least he didn't have a picture of me buried up to my neck in snow."

"That only happened because Trouble jumped out of a snow bank in front of me when I wasn't expecting it."

Harry snickered in response to Dudley's indignant tone; his cousin had quickly grown used to Trouble's antics once Harry had started leaving her out of her PokéBall more frequently but she still managed to startle him every once in a while. There were times when she didn't even have to try too; such as the day in question when she'd been playing in the snow and randomly popped up right in front of Dudley and his cousin had let out a startled cry as he jumped backwards right into a snow filled ditch as a result.

The rest of their walk back to the Pokémon Center was filled with playful insults and more than a few stops to ask for directions as they got lost a time or two since this was their first time wandering about without one of the adults or Daisy to keep them on the right track. They still managed to get back to the Center in one piece shortly after the sun had set and the two of them spilled through the doors of the Pokémon Center still laughing. The two of them found Luna and Daisy waiting for them in the lobby and Dudley peeled away to join them while Harry headed to receptionist's counter.

"Nurse Joy?" Harry politely called in order to get the woman's attention once he'd reached the counter. The moment she looked up from the computer, Harry asked, "Could I get you to take a look at my Cyndaquil? A Geodude hit him with a couple of **Rock Throws** in a Trainer Battle a little while ago and I'd like to make certain he didn't break anything."

"A Geodude you say? Does that mean that you and your friend are the ones responsible for the eighteen new patients that were brought to me about a half an hour ago?"

"Er, sort of; they challenged Dudley and I to three back-to-back Battles each."

"And was your Cyndaquil the only one of your Pokémon to be injured in the Battles?"

"Yes, he's the only Pokémon I have that is officially registered as part of my Pokémon Party. The rest of my Pokémon don't qualify since they're in custom made PokéBalls that don't conform to the League Standards."

"Very well, let's get him checked out," Nurse Joy replied as she climbed to her feet, walked to the doorway leading into the back of the building, and stuck her head through the doorway. "Chansey, can you please bring a gurney around to the lobby? We have another patient."

"_Another one…? Already? What a busy day this is,_" a female Pokémon's voice muttered in reply. Three minutes later, the double doors leading into the clinic were pushed open as a large, pink Pokémon shaped like an egg backed through the doors pulling a wheeled hospital bed with her. The pink Pokémon then turned around to glance about the lobby as she inquired, "_Where is my patient?_"

"Go ahead and place your Cyndaquil on the gurney, young man," Nurse Joy instructed as she retook her seat in front of her computer. "Your Pokémon will be in good hands with Chansey and we'll call you once we've finished his exam and healed any significant injuries we might find."

Harry nodded in response to the nurse's words as he approached the gurney while his eyes remained on the Chansey now that he could finally make out the details he'd missed the first time he'd seen her due to not having his glasses on at the time. Because he was studying her, he knew the instant that the pink Pokémon had recognized him; her eyes widening in surprise before she leaned forward to study him intently (as if to make certain he hadn't gotten sick again).

"_I remember you; you're the sickly human that spoke to me when I was visiting the Professor's home,_" Chansey stated as she watched him gently place his Cyndaquil on the wheeled bed. Not trusting himself not to answer her in PokéTongue, Harry offered her a smile and nodded in confirmation before he leaned down to kiss Cyndaquil's nose.

After another minute of staring, the Chansey visibly shook herself in response to a soft whimper from the Cyndaquil when he shifted on the gurney. Both Pokémon would then vanish between the double doors and Harry let out a silent sigh as he stared at the door for a moment before he turned to join the others in the Cafeteria for supper. He knew he'd have his Pokémon back sometime that evening but his mind kept insisting that he should feel guilty for leaving his littlest partner all alone when he was in pain.

Harry shook away the strange numbness that settled over him in lieu of the guilt his brain said he should feel as he slid into the open seat beside Daisy and pulled the tray of food that Dudley had ordered for him closer. After giving him a chance to take a few bites, the two girls started asking questions about their afternoon. The two boys gladly launched into a modified tale that conveniently omitted any mention of Harry's reaction at the Post Office (since they were in public) and mainly revolved around the sites they'd seen as they wandered about town and the Battles they had participated in.

They also received an answer for why the Viridian City Gym was currently closed. As the only Gym to actively participate in the Pokémon League Challenge every single year, they tended to limit the number of months they were open to allow the Gym Trainers and Leader a break from battling. On top of that, in order to face the Viridian Leader in an attempt to earn an Earth Badge (which was only available from the Viridian City Gym), you had to have a minimum of seven Badges already and by remaining closed at the start of each new League Challenge, the Gym could avoid dealing with the bulk of newly registered Trainers that do not have enough experience to qualify.

Once they had finished eating, the group migrated upstairs to feed their Pokémon and so the two boys could take a shower and changed their clothes. Harry would then slip back down to the lobby in order to wait for word on his Cyndaquil's condition while the others made plans for tomorrow. Harry had barely taken a seat in the waiting area when Chansey stuck her head out through the double doors and glanced about the room. The moment she saw him, she waved one of her little arms at him to get his attention.

"_Your Pokémon is ready for you to come collect him,_" Chansey announced the moment she saw Harry take note of her presence.

Jumping up, Harry hurried across the lobby floor and followed the three-foot tall Pokémon into the clinic. She would lead him down a short hall to a small ward packed with multiple hospital beds that were half filled with injured Pokémon; several of which Harry readily recognized as the opponents that Rex and his Cyndaquil had faced earlier. He only gave those Pokémon (all of whom were sleeping off their injuries) a passing glance as he made his way to the bed where his Cyndaquil was sitting.

"_Hey, little one; are you feeling better now?_" Harry automatically asked as he scooped the Fire Mouse off the bed.

"_Yes._"

"_I'm glad to hear that, my little Phoenix._"

"_Phoenix?_" the Cyndaquil parroted curiously as he happily snuggled into Harry's arms.

"_Yep, Phoenix; I figured it was the perfect name for a fiery Pokémon with a fierce heart,_" Harry explained as he rubbed his fingers up and down the Cyndaquil's nose.

"_Phoenix,_" the newly named Pokémon repeated happily as he grabbed hold of Harry's hand and hugged it tightly to his chest. "_I like it._"

"_I thought you might,_" Harry murmured before he glanced sideways at the curious Chansey that was hovering nearby and listening to their conversation with wonder and excitement. "_Thank you, Chansey; I really appreciate you taking care of Phoenix for me tonight. I also owe you my thanks for healing me like you did last year._"

"_You're welcome,_" Chansey replied as she moved closer so she could pat him on his arm. She then reached into the little pouch on her belly and pulled out the white-shelled egg that was sitting there. "_Here, you need to eat this; you are still far too scrawny for a human._"

Harry chuckled in response to the friendly Pokémon mothering him as he accepted the proffered egg. He then kissed the Chansey on the forehead in thanks. The large Pokémon grew rather flustered by the affectionate gesture and fended him off with her little arms before she pushed him out of the recovery room so he wouldn't disturb the sleeping patients in the ward. Harry chuckled and bid the Pokémon good night as he strolled towards the double doors that led back to the lobby with Phoenix still in his arms.

Nurse Joy would stop him on his way out and hand him a copy of the medical report that had been generated for Phoenix while he was being treated. After thanking the woman again for her help, he headed upstairs. He briefly stopped in the room he was sharing with Dudley to check on Moony who was lounging on the bed Harry had claimed earlier before he joined the others in the girls' room. Once in the room, Harry took a seat next to Daisy on one of the beds since the Pokémon had claimed the floor and Luna and Dudley were sharing the other bed.

As soon as he was seated, he turned to Daisy and asked, "Daisy, do you feel up to giving 'Nix a massage?"

"Sure, but who is Nix?" Daisy asked in confusion even as she held her hands out for the Pokémon.

"Nix is my Cyndaquil; it's short for Phoenix," Harry explained as he passed the Pokémon in question to her.

"Is there a story behind that name?"

"Well phoenixes are legendary birds of fire that burst into flames when they die and they are reborn out of the ashes of their old bodies. In the final round of Nix's last Battle, we saw him burst into flames and rise out of the ashes of his near defeat to win at the last second; so, I thought it was a fitting name for him."

"I wish I could have been there to see it," Daisy sighed as she settled Phoenix on her lap and lightly began massaging the back of the Cyndaquil's head.

"Sorry," Harry offered out of habit as Daisy's Charmander climbed up onto the bed to curl up in his lap.

"There will be other Battles that we will both fight and watch," Luna airily announced with a dreamy smile. She then turned her sightless eyes in Harry's direction as she asked, "Did you have any trouble sticking to human speech during the Battles? I only _saw_ bits and pieces of those Battles and therefore could not _see_ if you slipped up during them."

"No, I didn't have any problems during my Battles; it was far easier to keep to English when I could see the other Trainer in the background while keeping my eyes on the Pokémon that were battling. I didn't have the same luck when I walked into the Pidgey Post Office though; the sheer number of Pokémon talking all at once drowned out everything else and I couldn't even think straight the first time. If not for Dudley, I don't think I'd have made it out of there without revealing my ability to speak to the Pokémon."

"Was it really that bad?" Daisy asked with some surprise.

"Yeah, he froze up the second we stepped into the office and when I tried to ask him what was wrong, he'd only answer me in PokéTongue," Dudley explained. "We were lucky the office was mostly empty and that none of the staff were close enough to hear him speaking like a Pidgey."

"It will only get worse when we start attending Contests," Luna sadly stated. "Not only do the Contests mostly take place indoors but they are attended by huge crowds of Pokémon and people; meaning it will be impossible to prevent someone from overhearing him if he can't learn to drown out their voices."

"Harry figured it could be a problem already," Dudley interjected as he slung an arm around Luna's shoulders.

"I'm going to send an e-mail to Professor Oak tonight and ask him if he has any ideas that might help," Harry added as he tickled the Charmander's tummy. "I will also practice blocking out Pokémon voices for an hour each time we end up booking a room to sleep in."

"You could always buy some ear plugs too; they won't block all sound but they should reduce it enough to make it easier for you to block out large crowds of Pokémon," Daisy suggested over a hum of pleasure from Phoenix as her fingers gently kneaded his shoulders.

"That would also make it hard to hear people talking to me as well," Harry countered with a slight frown. "Though, ear plugs, headphones, or earmuffs would probably be a big help in preventing me from freezing up when I'm overwhelmed in a crowd or blurting out things on Pokémon Speech unconsciously until I reach the point where I can actively block out Pokémon voices."

"Radio headsets would be best," Luna corrected as she closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side. "We would need enough for all four of us for and for each Pokémon we plan to enter into the various Contests; that way we can speak to one another in the crowds and you would be less susceptible to the influences of chatting Pokémon. As participants in the Pokémon Contests, wearing such headsets is almost expected since the crowds do tend to get rather loud and rowdy."

"Will we be able to find anything like that here in Viridian City or are we going to have to get them from the Department Store in Celadon City?" Dudley inquired as Luna reopened her eyes and leaned into his side.

"They should carry them at the PokéMart; if they don't have them in stock, we can order them from the Silph Company in Saffron City and have them shipped to the Pokémon Center here in Viridian City or, if it will take more than a day or two to fill our order, to the one in Pewter City," Daisy answered.

Now that that had been settled, the conversation turned to the plans the others had hashed out while Harry had been retrieving Phoenix from the Pokémon Clinic. The two boys would be kicked out of the girls' room a half an hour after that so that the girls could get ready for bed. Harry and Dudley would follow their example as soon as they returned to their room; both boys tired from all of the walking they'd done that day.

* * *

_April 04, 2031  
Route 22, West of Viridian City  
Kanto Region_

Harry lazily lounged in a patch of long grass near the bank of a large man-made pond that sat in the middle of Route Twenty-Two. The short stretch of road that led from Viridian City to the Pokémon League Reception Gate was mostly deserted at this time of year due to the fact that the League's Reception Hall was closed until January (when the opening ceremony for the Pokémon Tournament was held). The lack of traffic meant that Route Twenty-Two made the perfect place to train in private or just get away from potential challengers.

Over the past two days, Harry and his companions had fought in well over a dozen Trainer Battles each in addition to exploring those parts of the city they had not visited in the past. The steady stream of challenges were kind of annoying even if there was a certain thrill in guiding Nix to victory against bigger and stronger opponents.

Their time hadn't just been spent exploring or battling. The group had spent quite a bit of time studying the rule books that they had been given when they first registered for the Pokémon League Challenge. The trio of world travelers had quickly learned that the Pokémon Tournament was basically this world's equivalent to the Olympic Games from his birth world. There were a few major differences though.

The first difference was that the number of years between Tournaments was not set like it was for the Olympics. Instead, the Tournament was only held during those years when the number of registrants for the Pokémon League Challenge reached high enough numbers to justify holding the Tournament. If there weren't enough potential participants, then the Tournament would be canceled for that year.

Another difference was the fact that the Tournament was open to anyone with a valid Trainer's License instead of being limited to hand tapped athletes; providing said trainer was a registered participant in the Pokémon League Challenge and that they managed to qualify for the Pokémon Tournament. To qualify for the Tournament, all a registered Trainer had to do was earn at least eight Gym Badges, pass the Pokémon League Admissions Exam (only available for Trainers sixteen or older), or graduate from the Pokémon Technical Institute (also known as Pokémon Tech).

Due to how difficult it was for Trainers to qualify for the Tournament in less than a year (registration for the Pokémon League Challenge was only open during the last week of March and the first week of April each year and you only had until December twenty-fifth to qualify), registration for the League Challenge was good for a period of three years. So, if you didn't qualify during the first year, you still had another two years before you needed to re-register. On top of that, once you had earned a Gym Badge that Badge would count towards your qualification no matter how long it had been since you first earned it.

In other words; Badges never expired.

The next difference, which happened to be one of the biggest, was that you had to have at least one Pokémon Partner in order to participate. Every single event held as part of the Tournament required the participant to have a Pokémon; even those ones that were not geared towards Pokémon Battles. Even in the team events, each member of the team must have a registered Pokémon in order to compete. The last difference of note between the Pokémon Tournament and the Olympics was the fact that each individual region held its own Pokémon Tournament instead of simply holding a world-wide Tournament.

Harry much preferred this world's version; it placed far less pressure on the individual participants and allowed far more people to actually participate.

The only draw back to the Pokémon Tournament (in Harry's opinion), was that there was ultimately only one winner for each Tournament. Though that didn't mean that those participants that made it into the final rounds didn't earn their fair share of prize money and fame; they did. However, the fact that there was only _one_ title available meant that the competition tended to be fiercer as all of the contestants fought to earn the title of Pokémon Champion. In order to gain that title, you had to face off against the previous Tournament's Pokémon Champion.

It was also from past Pokémon Champions that the Elite Four (proclaimed to be the four strongest Pokémon Trainers in their region) were selected. The Elite Four was typically made up of men and women that had been Training Pokémon for decades and in order to have a shot at facing the reigning Pokémon Champion, you had to beat all four members of the Elite Four in a straight run; meaning that you faced them one after another with only a ten minute break in between opponents.

Needless to say, Pokémon Champions tended to reign for several years.

Harry actually had no desire to become a future Pokémon Champion. He didn't want the fame or the responsibilities that came with the title. That didn't mean that he didn't want to challenge the Elite Four and the current Champion, he did; he just didn't want to do so in an official Tournament Match. The fame he would garner from just making it into the finals would be more than enough to get his face and name plastered on televisions and in newspapers around the world long enough to catch Sirius's attention of his godfather was in this world and still alive.

And that was the only reason why Harry had opted to take the Pokémon League Challenge.

Harry's musings were interrupted when his cousin let out an indignant shout and the green-eyed Trainer pushed himself to his feet so he could peer over the tall grass to see what was happening. He burst out into laughter a heartbeat later as he caught sight of his cousin chasing after a tan and brown Pokémon that had stolen Dudley's backpack while Daisy and Luna watched from where they were sitting on large rock half submerged in the shallows of the pond. Digging out his PokéDex, Harry waded out of the grass so he could identify the thief before he lent his cousin a hand in reclaiming his pack before the Pokémon could ruin it or the supplies it held.

Once he was in a position to get a good shot of the Pokémon, Harry activated his PokéDex and the computerized voice promptly announced, "Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon. This Pokémon is extremely quick to anger. It could be docile one moment, then thrashing away the next instant."

Harry hummed under his breath as he returned his PokéDex to his pocket while he eyed the fur covered, ball-shaped Pokémon with cat-like ears, a pig's snout, spindly arms and legs, and a monkey's tail. He noted that the Mankey was rather fast on its feet and that it kept its hands free by using its tail to hold Dudley's backpack captive. He started to circle around behind the wild Pokémon a moment later in hopes that he could get close enough to it to talk it into giving Dudley back his things.

He wouldn't get a chance as the moment he started moving, the Mankey unzipped the backpack and began throwing items out left and right as it searched the pack for food. Dudley took offense to having his things thrown about and promptly released Rex from his PokéBall. Harry sighed and held his position as he listened to the Mankey taunt Rex the moment it caught sight of the Totodile. Based on the extent of the wild Pokémon's vocabulary, Harry would estimate it to currently be around level six and a male.

"_Oh, wow; you are one ugly duck._"

"_And you look like a tasty snack,_" Rex countered as he snapped his jaw a couple of times in a show of intimidation.

"_You have the kind of face not even a mother could love._"

"_At least I don't look like something a Meowth hacked up._"

"Rex, hit him with **Leer**," Dudley instructed before the Mankey could voice his next another insult.

Rex shifted his stance and dropped his jaw as he focused intently on the Pig Monkey Pokémon; his eyes sparkling slightly as he tried to make eye contact with his opponent. The Mankey danced out of the Water Pokémon's line of sight at the last second before it rapidly crossed the distance separating the two Pokémon and slashed Rex across the snout twice in rapid succession using **Scratch**. The Totodile cried out in surprise as a total of six red scratch marks crisscrossed his face before they faded away.

"_Not only are you the ugliest creature I've ever seen, you're the slowest too!_" the Mankey crowed as he danced out of reach of Rex's jaws before the startled Totodile could react.

The next ten minutes consisted of the Mankey basically running circles around Rex while delivering damage each time he lashed out with his claws. Harry almost couldn't believe that Rex was loosing so easily to a Pokémon whose current level of experience was less than half that of the Totodile's. Of course, the only reason why the Mankey was winning the current fight was strictly due to the fact that he was two to three times faster than Rex. Harry had not realized just how much of an advantage a high Speed Stat could be in a fight until now.

"Damn it," Dudley cursed as he glared at the Pokémon that had stolen his things. "Chasing after him isn't working. I know; Rex, hold your ground and wait for him to come to you and then **Bite** him."

It took another five minutes before Rex could carry out the new strategy but the moment he clamped hold of the Mankey's tail, Dudley dashed in and retrieved his now half empty backpack. The moment he pulled the bag free, the Mankey went ballistic and his little hands became a blur as he attacked everything within reach of his arms. Keys broke free of its PokéBall a second later and used **Foul Play** to attack the Mankey. Unfortunately, that particular move was intended to be used on multiple opponents and both Rex and Dudley were caught up in the friendly fire as well.

Luckily, **Foul Play** deals out damage based upon the opponent's Attack Stat rather than the user's Attack Stat; meaning that the level of damage dealt was far less than it could have been since Keys was over level thirty now while Rex was only at level sixteen and Dudley didn't have an Attack State because he wasn't a Pokémon (though he still felt the attack). At the same time, the Mankey's Attack Stat was low enough that he wasn't knocked out either. The wild Pokémon simply staggered back when he was hit by the attack.

To both Dudley's astonishment and Harry's amusement, the dazed Pokémon managed to trip over a roll of bandages and fall on top of an unoccupied PokéBall. The PokéBall activated from the pressure of having the Mankey fall on it and the Pig Money Pokémon disappeared in a flash of red light as it was sucked into the PokéBall without warning. The red and white ball rocked and spun for several seconds before it fell still; signaling a successful capture. Harry glanced between the newly occupied ball and his cousin several times before he burst out laughing.

"Congrats, Dudders; you're now the first one in our group to capture a wild Pokémon."

"Shut up, Harry," Dudley grumbled in return as he wiped the blood off of his face from where the Mankey had swiped his cheek with his claws. "Why is it that I always end up with the aggressive Pokémon that like to attack me?"

"I couldn't tell you. But at least you know your Pokémon will always be up for a fight."

"Whatever; are you going to help me pick up my stuff or are you just going to laugh at my expense?"

"Why should I have to choose when I can easily do both?" Harry retorted as he moved forward to help his cousin start hunting through the grass for his scattered supplies; the former wizard still sniggering under his breath in response to the unexpected end to the fight.

Dudley's only reply was to flip him the bird as he picked up his new Mankey and used his PokéDex to register the newly captured Pokémon to his Trainer ID. He then returned his other two Pokémon back to their PokéBalls and clipped all three Pokémon to his belt so he could use both hands to collect his things. Daisy hurried over to join them now that the matter had been resolved; the auburn haired girl giggling each time she caught Harry's eye. Once they had picked up everything they could find, Harry helped Dudley tend to his injuries to prevent them from becoming infected.

The four of them then gathered up the rest of their things and headed back to the Pokémon Center so that Rex and the Mankey could both have their injuries treated as well; the Totodile close to fainting for the first time due to how many hits he'd taken from the Mankey.

* * *

**Notes:**

Pokémon Parties (M = Male, F = Female, G = Genderless)

Daisy: (Trainer ID # 062441HP)  
Name TBA – F Charmander (lvl 14)

Dudley: (Trainer ID # 062444HP)  
Keys – G Klefki (lvl 32)  
Rex – M Totodile (lvl 16)  
Name TBA – M Mankey (lvl 6)

Luna: (Trainer ID # 062443HP)  
Nargle – F Natu (lvl 50)  
Spork – M Spoink (lvl 31)  
Snuggles – M Chikorita (lvl 12)

Harry: (Researcher ID# 0018708HP, Trainer ID # 062442HP)  
Moony – M Absol (lvl 51)  
Gryffin – M Litleo (lvl 33)  
Trouble – F Misdreavus (lvl 50)  
Phoenix – M Cyndaquil (lvl 15)

* * *

**AN:** _And that's a wrap for the Viridian City Arc and for this posting streak. I even managed to finally reveal Cyndaquil's name. I wanted to work in Charmander's name too but it didn't quite work out but her name will be revealed in the next travel interlude._

_Next, I should point that the Tournament information provided in the chapter is a blend of the anime and games info on the Pokémon Tournament twisted into something that worked for my story. I was originally just going to stick with the once every three years from the Bulbapedia site but that didn't really mesh with the games or the anime since the games have no set time when you can rechallenge the Elite Four &amp; the Champion and the characters never seem to age at all in the Anime (at least not in the first few regions/seasons). _

_All that traveling and Ash was forever stuck as a ten year old. Poor Kid. ~ Jenn_

**Edited 01-00-16:**_ Replaced the missing sentence from the second paragraph in the second section, fixed a few spelling and grammatical errors, and removed the unnecessary bits of the author's note._


	15. Hitting the Road Again

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Hitting the Road Again

_April 05, 2031  
Pokémon Center, Viridian City  
Kanto Region_

Harry would be the first one up the next morning and he silently slipped out of the room he was sharing with Dudley to take a quick shower since it would be a few days before he had another chance. He then dressed in a clean set of clothes before he returned to the dorm room to wake his cousin. While Dudley hauled himself out of bed and down the hall for a shower to help him wake up, Harry began the tedious process of collecting their scattered possessions from around the room. Dudley's things were placed on the bed he had used while Harry's were carefully tucked into his pack.

The very last two things he placed in his bag were a thick stack of flyers and a thumb drive holding an electronic copy of the flyer. He'd just picked those up the previous evening on the way back to the Pokémon Center after Dudley's new Mankey had accidentally captured itself. Or rather, Daisy had picked those up for him while he'd spent their time at the Pidgey Post Office working on ignoring the Pokémon chatter filtering out of the backroom.

The flyers themselves were fairly simple. They had the hand drawn likeness of Sirius inside of a simple box frame taking up the top three-quarters of the flyer. Directly under the photo-box in thick, bold print were the words 'HAVE YOU SEEN ME?' and underneath that was a short blurb with Sirius's name, approximate age, height, and a basic description of his features. The very last line was a request for people to contact their local police station if they had any information on Sirius's whereabouts or knew someone who might have seen him.

Harry had already sent an electronic copy of the flyer to Prof. Oak (at the man's request, so that he could send them off to his colleagues around the world and post one in the lab's lobby) and been given permission by Nurse Joy to hang one on the bulletin board that sat in the waiting area of the Pokémon Center's lobby. He'd also been given permission to post one in every satellite office of the Pidgey Post Office – though, it was actually Daisy who had accomplished that. She'd even sweet talked the manager into e-mailing an electronic copy off to their other offices so Harry wouldn't have to use any of the hard copies he'd already purchased.

Of course, the fact that he was searching for his guardian made the manager of the Viridian City Pidgey Post Office far more sympathetic to his plight. It was said manager's sympathy that had also seen him being presented with the thumb drive holding the electronic copy of the file free of charge; something that would make it far easier to spread the flyer around and get additional flyers printed off each time he ran out.

Dudley returned to the room less than a minute after Harry finished packing his things and Harry left him to start his packing while he slipped next door to see if the girls were ready to leave. When neither girl answered the door, he let Trouble out of her PokéBall and had the ghost Pokémon slip into their room to see if the girls were in there. Twin yelps of shock soon filtered through the door and he snickered to himself over the unintentional prank. It was a very smug Trouble that returned to him two minutes later and Harry lavished attention on the Misdreavus before he returned her to her PokéBall.

"That wasn't very nice to wake up us that way, Harry," Daisy growled with a small pout when she opened the door shortly after he'd clipped Trouble's PokéBall back on his belt beside his other three occupied PokéBalls.

"No one answered when I knocked and I didn't even know that the two of you were still asleep," Harry countered as he fought back the urge he felt to smirk at the girl. "Besides, I only asked Trouble to check if you two were still in the room; she's the one who chose to wake you up when she found you still sleeping."

Daisy let out a huff of exasperation but she couldn't quite hide the amusement in her eyes and Harry allowed the smirk to form on his face the moment he noticed it. Daisy rolled her eyes and playfully slapped his shoulder before she headed for communal showers. Luna stepped out of their room a split second later and Harry found himself with his arms full of Pokémon as the blonde passed Nargle, Spork, and Snuggles to him on her way to the bathroom. Harry let out a soft snort of bemusement at being reduced to a living perch (again) before he returned to his and Dudley's room.

"Are the girls almost ready to go?" Dudley inquired the moment he stepped through the door.

"Not quite, they only just woke up," Harry replied as he gently transferred Luna's Pokémon to the bed he'd slept in for the past few nights before he dropped down on the bed beside them. "They shouldn't be too long though."

"Do you think we should wait up here for them or head down to the lobby?"

"The cafeteria doesn't open for another hour and forty-five minutes and the Pokémon Clinic won't open for another fifteen, so it'd probably be best just to wait here," Harry absently replied as he shifted Nargle up to her favorite perch on his head (the bird Pokémon just loved his hair for some reason – probably because it always looked like a bird's nest no matter how many times he brushed it).

"The cafeteria's closed…? I thought it was open twenty-four/seven."

"It's only open around the clock when the Viridian Gym is open and during the Pokémon League Tournament because that's when Viridian City has the largest influx of visitors passing through the area. The rest of the time, it's only open from eight-thirty in the morning to nine at night."

"Oh, that actually makes sense. How'd you know that though? I don't recall the hours being posted outside of the cafeteria."

"Daisy mentioned it the same time she mentioned the reason why the Viridian City Gym wasn't open."

"Huh, I must have I missed part of that conversation when I stepped out to use the loo that night. Was there any other information I missed that night while I was gone?"

"I don't think so. I'm pretty certain that you were there for most of the conversation. In any case, the rest of what she told us that night was trivial and anything important will probably come up again at some point anyway."

"True," Dudley agreed as he finished packing away his things. "Did you already check under the bed for anything that might have gotten dropped?"

"Yep, that's where most of the stuff I set on the bed had come from."

"I guess that means we're done here. Shall we go see if the girls are ready to go?"

"Sure, if they're not; we can head down to the lobby and have our Pokémon checked over one last time before we leave while we wait for them; Nurse Joy should be opening the clinic within the next five minutes," Harry replied as he slipped his dark red pack onto his back. He then settled the silver saddle-bag pack over his left shoulder before he recollected Luna's other two Pokémon.

"Sounds good to me," Dudley murmured as he shouldered his pack before the two of them headed for the door.

Just before he left the room, Harry scanned the area one last time to insure that they'd not left anything behind before he slipped out after his cousin. He reached Dudley's side just in time for Luna to shove a quartet of PokéBalls into his hand; the three empty ones obviously belonging to the three Pokémon he was carrying while the occupied ball had to be Daisy's Charmander.

"We'll be down right about the time Nurse Joy has finished running all of our Pokémon through the scanner," Luna added in her usual dreamy tone before she shut the door in the boys' faces.

"Well, I guess that answers the question of whether or not they are ready yet," Harry quipped as he clipped the Charmander's PokéBall to his belt on the opposite side as his Pokémon (so he didn't get Daisy's PokéBall mixed up with Phoenix's PokéBall – since those two were similar in appearance) before he returned Luna's Pokémon to their PokéBalls and passed all three of Luna's Pokémon over to Dudley to hold.

The two cousins shared a brief smirk over Luna's roundabout order to have their Pokémon checked over by Nurse Joy before they headed for the stairs. They reached the lobby just a couple of minutes later and found Nurse Joy behind her counter checking the messages on her answering machine while her computer booted up. The two boys moved up to the counter and patiently waited for Nurse Joy to finish what she was doing before they announced their presence.

As it turned out, the pink-haired woman had caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye as they stepped out of the stairwell and the moment they stepped up to the counter, she turned towards them and cheerfully stated, "Good morning, boys; was there something I could help you with this morning?"

"G'morning, Nurse Joy," Harry replied as he smiled in response to the friendly smile that Nurse Joy always wore when not dealing with an injured Pokémon. "We were hoping that you could give our Pokémon a quick check-up before we leave just to make certain that they're all in good health."

"Are the four of you checking out this morning as well, then? Or are you going to stick around and explore the city for another day or two?" Nurse Joy inquired as she set four PokéBall trays on the counter the moment she noticed both boys were carrying extra PokéBalls.

"We're checking out, the girls will be down just as soon as they finish getting ready," Dudley replied as he divided his and Luna's PokéBalls up between two of the trays before he dug out his copy of the key for the room they'd been using while Harry did the same with his and Daisy's Pokémon and his room key.

"Which way are the four of you headed?" Nurse Joy asked as she collected Harry's tray of four Pokémon and transferred the four PokéBalls into the PokéBall-sized scanner ports on the large machine that sat behind the counter.

"North," Harry automatically answered as he tried to recall whether or not he'd learned the technical name for the machines that were used to scan the Pokémon contained inside of a PokéBall without removing them from the ball.

"Oh? If you don't mind me asking; are you headed to Pewter City or are you looking to cut through Diglett's Cave to head to Vermilion City? The reason I ask is so that I know where to forward any personal items that may have been left behind in your rooms."

"We were planning to head to Pewter City first but if we did leave anything behind, you can just send it to Prof. Oak in Pallet Town since there's always a chance that we might leave before any packages could reach us there," Dudley answered when he noticed that Harry was still caught up in watching the stats of his Pokémon flash across the monitor of the machine that was currently assessing the health of his Pokémon.

"That is a very sensible idea," Nurse Joy praised as she removed Harry's PokéBalls from the machine and passed the tray back to Harry before she collected the next tray to scan. "It's rather refreshing to know that the four of you are approaching your Pokémon Journey with far more maturity than most young trainers do when they first start out."

"Thanks," Dudley murmured as he blushed lightly under the warm praise the woman had just given them while Harry merely hummed an acknowledgement as he hadn't really been paying all that close attention to the conversation.

Harry was further distracted from the conversation when Chansey leaned through the arch behind the receptionist's counter to ask, "_You are leaving already, Speaker-boy?_" The green-eyed pre-teen blinked in surprise at the nickname the Pokémon had given him before he nodded once he had made certain that no one else was paying attention to him. "_Stay there! I have something for you._"

Bemused, Harry watched the large, pink Pokémon disappear from view as he wondered what she might have for him or why she'd even bothered to get him a gift in the first place. He didn't have long to wait as the Egg Pokémon bustled into the lobby carrying a covered basket in it's short arms just three minutes later. The basket was promptly pushed into Harry's hands by the friendly Pokémon and Harry lifted the fuzzy blue blanket (embroidered on one corner with a pink outline of a Chansey) that covered the top to find the basket filled with around a dozen white eggs that were identical to the one that Chansey had given him the other day.

"_You are to eat one egg each night before you go to sleep for every day that you are on the road,_" Chansey ordered sternly and Harry nodded in compliance even as his mouth curled up in a small smile over the fact that the Pokémon was mothering him again. "_They will help you grow stronger, put on weight, and keep you from getting sick again. When the basket is empty, you can take it to any Pokémon Clinic to have it refilled by one of my fellow Chanseys; just show them the blanket and they will know you are under my care._"

"_Thank you, Chansey,_" Harry murmured softly as he firmly tucked the blanket back into the basket so none of the eggs would fall out and looped the basket's handle over his arm so he could dig into the saddle-pack over his shoulder. He pulled out one of the tupperware containers filled with berry cakes and held it out to the Pokémon. "_I want you to have this in exchange; it's full of Ms. Ketchum's homemade berry cakes. You can either keep them for yourself or hand them out as comfort treats for the injured Pokémon you help Nurse Joy treat._"

Chansey enthusiastically accepted the return gift (Ms. Ketchum's berry cakes were very popular amongst the Pokémon that had had the privilege to try one) before she vanished into the Pokémon Clinic. Harry snorted softly in amusement at the Pokémon's behavior before he carefully tucked the basket of Chansey Eggs into the saddle-pack where they would be safe. Part of him was still amazed that the entire basket fit inside of the pack when it was larger than the pack while another part of him wondered if this world's magic had been incorporated into its technology.

It would certainly explain how a Hagrid-sized Pokémon could fit into a little ball-shaped shell that was roughly the size of a cricket ball without bursting at the seams. Then again, it could well be the magic of the Pokémon themselves that allowed for them to be stored inside of PokéBalls that were smaller than them.

Harry's silent musings on magic and technology were cut short at that point as Luna popped up beside him and poked him in the side as she sing-sang, "Get your head out of the research clouds that have taken up space in your brain least you give the wrackspurts a new breeding ground between your ears, Harry; it's time for us to leave."

"Yes, Luna-dear," Harry replied as he automatically shifted away from her finger least she decided to poke him a second time. He then glanced at the receptionist's counter to find that Nurse Joy had just finished running Daisy's Charmander through the scanner machine and that Daisy was patiently waiting at the counter to collect her Pokémon. Seeing that they were finished now, Harry asked, "Are we still going to stop at a restaurant on the way out to grab breakfast?"

"Yes," Daisy answered as she and Dudley joined Harry and Luna before the group slowly began migrating towards the exit. "Did you want to stop by the Police Station first and let them know you were leaving?"

"That's probably a good idea," Dudley interjected before Harry could answer the question.

Harry agreed without much hesitation and the four of them bid Nurse Joy one final farewell before they exited the Pokémon Center. They stopped right outside of the center for a ten minute photo-shoot (Daisy insisted) before they made their way to the Police Station where Harry spoke to one of the Officer Jennys (though, he could not tell if the officer he spoke to was the original Officer Jenny he'd spoken to or if it was one of her many cousins). He would walk away from the station twelve minutes later with a promise that he would be contacted the moment they had any new information.

Their next stop was a small café on the northern side of the city where they ate a slightly larger than normal breakfast and poured over the map of Route Two that Daisy had brought along. Once they finished eating, the group would borrow the restaurant's public payphones to call home so that they could let Ms. Ketchum and Prof. Oak know that they were leaving Viridian City. After they hung up, the four of them followed the main road north to where it merged with Route Two where they stopped for another short photo-shoot beside the city's welcome sign that proclaimed Viridian City as the 'Eternally Green Paradise'*.

As soon as Daisy put her camera away, the four pre-teens continued on their way. Instead of following the road like they had on their journey up Route One, the group stuck to the wide footpath that ran parallel to the road for several miles until the road veered west before it curved back around to Pewter City to avoid Viridian Forest. The path they were following, however, would lead them straight to the forest unless they chose to take the upper footpath on the eastern side of Route Two through the foothills in order to avoid the forest.

Harry was of two minds about passing through Viridian Forest.

On one hand, the forest was considered one of the must-see natural wonders that were scattered throughout the Kanto Region and a favorite haunt for those that loved Bug Pokémon. It was also rumored to be one of the only two places where Pikachu could be found in the wild in the Kanto Region. On the other hand, the forest was also purported to house the largest breeding grounds of several types of Bug Pokémon; the most notable of which was a large swarm of temperamental and easily angered Beedrill.

Prior to his experience in being mobbed by the flock of Spearow in Berry Meadow, Harry wouldn't have been bothered by a large gathering of aggressive Pokémon. However, he had learned several valuable lessons from that unprovoked attack. One, his ability to speak the Pokémon Language did not guarantee that he could talk a Pokémon out of attacking their group if it was determined to fight. Two, being mobbed by a large number of Pokémon was unpleasant. And three, fighting a large group of wild Pokémon posed a greater risk to their Pokémon.

The fact that Beedrill were dual type Pokémon and that their second type was Poison meant that a small swarm of Beedrill were far more dangerous than a large flock of Spearow. The good news was that Beedrill were not usually any where near as territorial as Spearow and so long as you didn't disturb their nests, they would usually leave you alone according to the guide books on that particular species of Pokémon.

There were two very good reasons why Harry hadn't spoken out against passing through Viridian Forest despite the risk involved. First, it was an excellent chance to interact with a few species of Pokémon that Prof. Oak didn't have on hand at the Lab and therefore the perfect opportunity to continue his research. And second, the possibility that they could encounter large numbers of wild Pokémon meant that Harry could get in some more practice on tuning out the sound of multiple Pokémon voices.

Well, there was also the fact that Harry really didn't think any forest could be quite as dangerous as the Forbidden Forest on the grounds of Hogwarts. It was hard to top territorial centaurs, a colony of blood-thirsty acromantula, and a flock of highly temperamental hippogriffs. That didn't even include the temporary guests like a unicorn slaying wraith, a hoard of barely controlled dementors, an out of control werewolf, or a mostly uncivilized giant.

Harry could almost believe that his misadventures and near death experiences at Hogwarts and on the castle's grounds had prepared him for all of the wild adventures he would have in this new world.

Shaking away the thought, Harry focused his attention on his surroundings as the group steadily made their way north; noting the trees that lined the wide path and the patches of long grass that sat beneath the staggered ledges that littered the gradual incline of the path. He also quickly noticed that the four of them were not the only ones wandering along the path. Multiple trainers were either battling each other or hunting through the long grass for wild Pokémon. There were also families having picnics on top of the ledges and athletically inclined people jogging up and down the path.

The presence of so many people actually made the path seem more like a community park than a road connecting two cities together.

It was rather nice and Harry would enjoy their trek northward from Viridian City.

The four traveling pre-teens would reach the edge of the Viridian Forest just a few minutes before eleven am. Instead of heading straight into the forest, they chose to stop early for lunch and commandeered one of the picnic areas that had been spread along the tree line for tourists and campers passing through the area. They weren't the only ones taking advantage of the public rest area to eat in the relatively wild Pokémon-free zone that sat in front of the forest. In fact, not far from their chosen spot there was a trio of boys around their age having mock battles with their Pokémon.

Harry watched the other boys battle for a moment before he turned away from them and pulled the saddle-pack from his shoulder so he could pull out the ingredients they'd need to make simple sandwiches. Daisy automatically confiscated everything he pulled out so she could start making their lunch with Luna's help while the boys handled the feeding of the Pokémon. He then drew out several bags of Pokémon food (each one geared towards a specific Pokémon type) and the feeding dishes that they'd purchased for their Pokémon.

He would fill three of the bowls with Fire type, one with Dark type, one with Ghost type, and one with Grass type food while Dudley poured out one of Water type, one of Fighting type, one of Steel type, and two of Psychic type food. The amount of food placed in each bowl was based upon the size and weight of the one who would be eating it (with Moony receiving the most while Keys received the least). Once all of the bowls had been filled, Harry tucked away the extra food before he and Dudley began passing the bowls of food to the hungry Pokémon (each of the individual bowls labeled with a Pokémon's name bar Phoenix's, the Mankey's, and the Charmander's bowls since they hadn't been named at the time their bowls were purchased).

A pair of water bowls that were three times the size of the feeding dishes were then filled with water and placed on the ground for the Pokémon to share. Those bowls would be refilled multiple times throughout the meal in order to make certain that all of the Pokémon got enough to drink. Rex, being a Water type, drank nearly three full bowls alone while the three Fire types in the group (Gryffin, Phoenix, and Daisy's Charmander) had less than a cup of water each. The rest of the Pokémon all drank amounts somewhere between those two extremes.

Like most mealtimes, the eclectic gathering of Pokémon made for a rather boisterous meal as those Pokémon types that normally didn't get along traded insults and the occasional blow while they ate. There was also a number of underhanded attempts to steal one another's food but those were actually just annoying tricks since the different foods they were currently eating were unappealing to Pokémon that weren't of a specific type. Despite the obvious rivalries, the Pokémon were actually better behaved than they had been when the quartet first left Pallet Town.

The only exception was Dudley's new Mankey. The young and still rather wild (and aggressive) Fighting type Pokémon had not yet really had any time to adjust to his recent capture. It was also quite obvious that he didn't get along with Rex and as a result the two males tended to butt heads (quite literally at times) each time they were both out. Dudley had made a valiant attempt to keep the peace by separating the two when he first fed them but they inevitably ended up next to one another when the other Pokémon instinctively drew away from them to escape the bickering.

Harry had tried to convince both Pokémon to drop their growing rivalry but while Rex would sort-of listen to him because he was close to Dudley, the Mankey refused to cooperate at all. Part of that was simply due to the Pig-Monkey Pokémon's personality and nature while the rest of it was because he was still young and had not yet accepted Dudley as his trainer due to the accidental nature of his capture. Dudley had offered to free the Mankey after he had been healed but he had not taken him up on the offer. Harry suspected the Pokémon only stayed because Dudley had given him food.

On the plus side, their constant exchange of insults and threats was both entertaining and an excellent opportunity to practice blocking out Pokémon voices for Harry.

Dudley didn't find it nearly as amusing since he was the one that would have to deal with the squabbling duo and he inevitably ended up scratched or bitten when he had to physically pull them apart. Sure, he could have just recalled them to their PokéBalls but that kind of defeated the purpose of getting them to work together and listen to their Trainer.

The blond pre-teen had just gotten up to split the two Pokémon up yet again when the trio of battling trainers that Harry had noted earlier approached their group. Harry reluctantly drew his attention away from the small spectacle of Dudley's insult slinging Pokémon so as to lessen the chances that the three strangers would hear him speak PokéTongue on the off chance that someone addressed him directly as well as to find out what they wanted.

"Hi, we were wondering if the four of you were Pokémon Trainers," the spokesman for the group announced as soon as he noticed that he had Harry's attention. "We're all registered Bug Catchers!"

"We are," Daisy confirmed as she pulled her eyes (and her camera) away from Dudley's attempt to get his two Pokémon to 'play nice' with one another or, failing that, at least settle down for the duration of their small break.

"Would you be willing to face us in an Official Pokémon Battle?" the boy eagerly requested as he glanced between Harry and the two girls since Dudley was still rather preoccupied with his Pokémon.

"I would be happy to accept your challenge," Luna agreed before Harry could even think about it, "Snuggles needs to burn off a bit of energy before he takes his afternoon nap."

"Snuggles…?" one of the other boys repeated in disbelief before all three of them burst into riotous laughter over the girly name that Luna had given her Chikorita.

"You actually got a Pokémon to accept such a lame name?" the third boy in the group gasped out between laughs.

Harry could have sworn that Luna's usual dreamy expression sharpened into something dangerous as she smiled in response to the boys' reaction to her beloved Pokémon's name. Harry suspected that she was about to teach the boys a lesson in manners and tact that they wouldn't soon forget and he almost felt sorry for the trio. Key word; almost. They had earned Luna's ire by the implied insult to the name she'd chosen to christen her youngest Pokémon.

"Which one of you is going to be my first opponent?" Luna inquired as she climbed to her feet and walked around the table to collect Snuggles before she moved to stand in front of the three boys.

"I'll go first," the boy who'd called Chikorita's name lame chirped as he produced a pair of PokéBalls.

"Terms?" Luna prompted on the heels of the boy's decision.

Harry glanced briefly at Dudley to find his cousin still busy and then shifted his gaze over to Daisy. Once he noticed that she was glancing between three boys surrounding Luna and the camera still in her hand, Harry pushed up from the picnic bench he'd been sitting on in order to play referee for the coming battles. It was quite obvious to him that Daisy would prefer to photograph battles as opposed to play judge for them. Dudley would usually step in to play referee (since Harry usually got too distracted by the battling Pokémon's taunts) but his cousin was a little preoccupied at the moment.

"First one out of usable Pokémon loses and the looser pays the winner fifty Poké," the first boy declared. He then glanced between Harry and Daisy as he asked, "Which one of you is going to face me after Anthony wins his battle?"

"Those are acceptable terms for all three battles," Luna stated as she withdrew her red PokéDex and ignored the implication that she would lose the first battle so she could engage the battle mode using voice prompts since she couldn't read the various menus that popped up.

Harry waited for Luna and Anthony to finish registering the battle and entering the battle terms into their PokéDexes and move a short distance away from the picnic area so there would be plenty of room for their Pokémon to maneuver before he asked, "Ready…?"

"Go, Caterpie!" Anthony called loudly as he threw one of his PokéBall onto the 'battlefield' causing a green caterpillar-like Pokémon to appear in a burst of red light.

"Off you go, Snuggles," Luna burbled happily as she set her Chikorita on the ground in front of her; drawing her first opponent's attention to the Leaf Pokémon for the first time.

"Awesome! We have the Type Advantage, Caterpie! Grass Pokémon are weak against Bug Pokémon. We so have this battle in the bag!"

"Set! Battle!" Harry called out once both Pokémon were on the field and Anthony had stopped celebrating a premature win against Luna just because he assumed that a Bug Pokémon facing off against a Grass Pokémon would always win simply because of a 'Type Advantage'. Harry knew from the experiments that Prof. Oak had had him helping with that a Pokémon's age, experience, move set, will power, and (in the case of domesticated Pokémon) their trust in their Trainer and their Trainer's ability to think strategically also played a huge role in determining the outcome of a battle.

"Snuggles, use **Growl**."

"Dodge and use **String Shot**, Caterpie!"

"Take two steps to the left and use **Growl** again, Snuggles."

"Argh! You missed, Caterpie! No! Don't just sit there, Caterpie! Dodge and use **String Shot** again!"

"Drop and roll to the right as you use **Growl** one more time, Snuggles," Luna calmly instructed in great contrast to Anthony's panicked orders while her Starter Pokémon obeyed her instructions to the letter and without any hesitation.

As he had each time he'd watched Luna direct her Pokémon in a battle, Harry absently wondered if Luna was using her Gift to help her 'see' the flow of the battle or if Nargle and Spork were providing 'silent' commentary as they watched from the sidelines. He supposed he could have just straight out asked her but he figured that doing so would take away the 'mystifying aura' that surrounded the petite blonde when she battled. He also didn't want to put his sister-of-the-heart on the spot in case it made her feel guilty about needing 'help' to fight her battles due to her blindness.

"Grr, use **Tackle**, Caterpie!"

"Jump and end this battle with **Razor Leaf**, Snuggles."

"Dodge! Dodge! Dodge, Caterpie!" Anthony yelled out desperately when Snuggles launched himself upwards as he swung the large leaf-like appendage on his head in a circle and launched a dozen glowing leaves with sharp edges at the Bug Pokémon on the ground below him. The Caterpie valiantly tried to dodge the fast-flying projectiles but it just wasn't quick enough to escape all of them and it only took three hits to knock the green Pokémon out cold. "No!"

"Caterpie is unable to continue!" Harry announced as soon as he saw the Pokémon curl up in a ball and fall still.

"Argh! Caterpie, return!" Anthony ordered as he pulled the empty PokéBall his Pokémon had come out of back to his hand using what looked like a length of fishing line and returned the unconscious Caterpie to the device. He then tucked the PokéBall into his pocket and threw his other PokéBall out onto the field as he dramatically called out, "Caterpie, I choose you!"

Less than three minutes later, Harry called out, "Caterpie is unable to continue! Bug Catcher Anthony is out of usable Pokémon; winner is Trainer Luna!"

"No!" Anthony dramatically wailed as he collapsed to his knees in response to the loss.

Luna tipped her head to one side as her PokéDex registered the battle's outcome (one of the various reasons why Official Pokémon Battles had to have a referee to oversee them – since it allowed the Trainers' PokéDexes to update themselves the moment the battle was called to keep both opponents honest) and awarded her fifty Poké as a result of winning the battle. She then turned to the side to beam at the two boys waiting their turn as she asked, "Whose next?"

Harry snickered to himself over the deer-in-the-headlights look that both of the other boys sported in response to their friend getting trounced in less than seven minutes by a girl. The other two boys wouldn't fair much better despite the fact that they both had three Bug Pokémon instead of just two like the first boy.

'_And that, boys and girls, is why it is unwise to make fun of the names that Luna thinks up,_' Harry silently commented as he watched the three defeated boys trudge off in the direction of Viridian City and the nearest Pokémon Center in shame at the end of the third battle while the triumphant Luna smothered a smug Snuggles with hugs and kisses.

* * *

**Notes:**

* 'The Eternally Green Paradise' is Viridian City's slogan in Generations I-III

Trainers – Bug Catcher Anthony &amp; his two unnamed friends can be considered minor canon characters as I took them straight out of Pokémon LeafGreen/FireRed games where they can be found in Viridian Forest. Their older than canon ages (since they looked about 10/11 in canon and canon's timeline is still five years away in this story) and slight displacement are rather immaterial as it is very unlikely that they will make another appearance in the story (though that may change at some point).

* * *

**AN:** _Yes, I know this was supposed to be up last night but a passing storm knocked the power out yesterday afternoon and it didn't come back on until around two hours ago. Now onto the actual author's note for this chapter:_

_The gang is back on the road now, Chansey's mothering/nurturing nature is more apparent in her attempts to counter Harry's biggest health issue (his weight and lack of body fat), Harry's gained another major tool to help him in his quest to find Sirius (the flyers), we've now seen Luna battle (only one of Daisy's battles hasn't been shown at this point), and we've learned that Dudley's having trouble with his newest Pokémon. _

_Anyway, before I close out this author's note, I'd like to address a question that was directed at me in a recent PM since I'm sure there are others out there that have the same question. I was asked (politely too) why I am holding completed chapters hostage until a story arc is complete when I used to just post chapters as they were finished. There are actually several reasons. First, and foremost, I have found it is far easier for me to keep the continuity of the story flowing smoothly if I work on a story by arc instead of by chapter. _

_It also reduces the need for me to go back and update previously posted chapters after I've corrected minor plot errors or holes that aren't discovered until 2-3 chapters later. Then there is the fact that posting all of the chapters in an arc around the same times means that you, the reader, is not left hanging while you wait for me to finish the next chapter in an arc (sop there are fewer long-term cliff hangers). And lastly, it gives me plenty of time to do the research needed for the entire arc instead of leaving me scrambling around at the last minute to get things done just to post the next chapter. _

_So, I hope that answered the question for those of you who were wondering. _

_And my final note for this chapter is that I'd like to thank everyone who pointed out the missing text from the second paragraph of the second section in the last chapter. The only reason I didn't fix that sooner was because I had to completely re-write that section because I couldn't remember what had been there in the first place since the deletion had occurred in my main story document and not on the upload document that actually got posted. _

_Anywho, it's fixed now though but there isn't really a need for everyone to go back and re-read the entire chapter because I didn't change anything else aside from a few minor grammatical errors. For now, I'm off to clean out my PM inbox and send out replies yet again (I do apologize for not getting back to everyone sooner but I don't spend that much time on my account to always know I've got new messages waiting – especially not when I'm writing/researching). The next chapter should be up tomorrow! ~ Jenn_


	16. Viridian Forest

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Viridian Forest

_April 05, 2031  
Viridian Forest, Route 02  
Kanto Region_

Two and a half hours after they'd reached the outskirts of Viridian Forest, the group finally finished their lunch and began picking up their messes. It normally wouldn't have taken them that long to eat but they'd been interrupted several times by bickering Pokémon and passing Trainers that wished to battle. Each of them had participated in at least three battles during that time; none of them quite willing to turn down a challenge since those battles were technically funding their Journey while it was Harry's research for Prof. Oak that was funding his search for his godfather.

As soon as they finished cleaning up the picnic area they had used, the quartet headed into Viridian Forest. The canopy of leaves and branches above their heads soon blocked out the majority of the sunlight and as a result of the reduced light, the temperature dropped several degrees. The chill in the air soon drove Harry to dig his jacket, gloves, and scarf out of his pack to keep himself warm. That was one complication the group hadn't taken into consideration when they were planning their route to Pewter City.

"Are you going to be alright?" Daisy asked in concern as the group stopped so that Harry could bundle himself up.

"Yeah, I'll be fine; it's not that cold. I just don't want to loose what little body heat I have before nightfall when it will get even colder," Harry replied as he wrapped his scarf around his neck and lower face before he tucked the ends into his jacket and zipped the jacket up all the way.

"We should set up the tent we brought and sleep in there tonight instead of just sleeping under the stars in our sleeping bags like we did along Route One," Dudley suggested as they began walking again once Harry had finished pulling on his gloves.

"Or I can just have my Pokémon curl up inside of my sleeping bag with me," Harry countered with a grin that was hidden by the scarf that was partially hiding his face. "They're all walking hot water bottles."

"_Or I could just sit on you,_" Moony retorted with an exasperated huff in response to being called a hot water bottle and Harry couldn't help but chuckle over the minor threat.

"What did he say?" Daisy asked curiously as she glanced between the Absol and the chuckling pre-teen.

"He said he could just sit on me instead."

The translation set the others to laughing with him before Dudley added, "I'd pay to have a picture of that!"

Harry rolled his eyes at his cousin while the two girls only laughed harder at the friendly teasing. After a few minutes, their amusement slowly trailed off as they began to turn their attention to the forest surrounding them. The wide path they were on was lined with closely grown trees whose branches had spread out far enough to tangle together to form that canopy that blocked the sun's light and warmth. In between the trees, they could just make out a collection of hip and knee high foliage that consisted of shrubs, ferns, moss, saplings, course grasses, and vines.

It was both beautiful and peaceful.

Peaceful did not mean quiet though and as the four pre-teens walked they could hear the distant calls of Pokémon, the faint scrabbling of the forest's denizens going about their lives, the continuous sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the occasional creak and groan of the branches shifting under the wait of a passing creature or stronger gust of wind, and the sound of their shoes crunching dead leaves and fallen branches. The only sound Harry thought was missing was that of rushing water; since the forest lacked the presence of a river despite its lush vegetation.

Approximately fifty meters into the forest, the tunnel-like path they were following opened up into a large clearing filled with dense pockets of trees, long swathes of long grass, and shallow depressions that would collect and hold water during passing rainstorms. The wide footpath they had been following split into several smaller paths that each took off in a different direction through the forest. Several of the paths looked to be overgrown with ground cover that gave them an air of neglect while the one that appeared to be the best maintained simply led to another picnic area and a smallish patch of long grass off to the group's left.

"I thought the trails through the forest would be better maintained," Dudley commented as the four of them stopped walking to glance about the place.

"I think they used to be until the West Road running from Pewter City to Viridian was built since most travelers between the two cities now drive instead of passing through the forest or taking the eastern trails through the foothills of Route Two," Daisy hypothesized thoughtfully. "I think there was a big push to limit the amount of traffic that passed through the forest in order to preserve the forest a couple of years ago. Gramps would know more about that though."

"It's also possible that the reason why they built the road was because the local wild Pokémon populations were being over-hunted by Trainers or chased off due to a growing human presence encroaching on their homes," Harry mused as he thought about the dwindling habitats of the wild animal populations that had been native to the British Isles due to the constantly rising numbers of the human population that had called Great Britain home.

"That is probably closer to the truth since I know the Viridian Forest was one of the areas that Gramps specifically asked you to take a look at when the two of you were discussing his research projects," Daisy agreed with a little nod.

"So, I guess that means we need to pick a trail and start searching for wild Pokémon, right?" Dudley inquired as he eyed the overgrown trails that snaked through the clearing before they disappeared between the trees.

"Or we could just check the map," Daisy countered and Harry frowned slightly when he noticed Luna slightly shake her head no as Daisy dug her collection of maps out of her backpack and sorted through them until she extracted one of the thinner pamphlet maps. "Ah-ha! Here's the map I brought of Viridian Forest."

Harry opened his mouth to ask Luna what was wrong only to close it when Nargle turned to meet his gaze from her perch on Luna's shoulder and stated, "_It would be most unwise of you to interfere with another's lesson._"

"_Ah, got it,_" Harry replied with a slight wince as he immediately deduced that Luna had _seen_ something that needed to happen. He briefly wondered who the lesson was for and what it entailed (since Nargle had implied that it was not _his_ lesson) before he pushed the thought out of his mind and refocused his attention on Daisy as she bent her head over her map and began speaking again.

"The original path though the forest leading straight to Pewter City runs straight through the center of the forest while the rest of the paths meander through the forest between Pokémon hot-spots before they merge back into a single path that meets back up with the main path near the northern border of the forest. So, if we want to avoid the Beedrills' nests and cross paths with a large number of wild Pokémon, then we want to take the left-hand path that can be found on the other side of the patch of long grass next to the picnic area."

"Sounds good to me," Dudley stated as he snuck a peak of the map over Daisy's shoulder. "Luna…? Harry…?"

"Works for me; the more wild Pokémon I can chat with, the more thorough my report will be in the end," Harry offered while Luna merely shrugged her shoulders and hummed what sounded like an agreement.

Direction chosen, Daisy refolded her map and returned it to her backpack as the four of them migrated towards the long grass beside the picnic area so they could start searching for the path they would be taking through the forest. Since they were not really in any hurry to get to Pewter City, the four rookie Trainers took their time searching for the path; readily stopping to battle (or to talk in Harry's case) to the wild Pokémon they encountered in the grass. Once they did stumble across the path leading deeper into the forest, they kept to a leisurely stroll as they continued to search out additional wild Pokémon.

In between chats and battles, most of Harry's attention was on his research journal as he jotted down his observations and key points from the discussions he'd held with the older, more experienced wild Pokémon they encountered. Since he was not traveling alone, he didn't have to be concerned about getting lost or wandering off of the trail even though he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. Despite his inability to feel actual worry, he could still experience a measure of concern if he stopped to think about it.

Harry just didn't think it was necessary for him to put that much effort into keeping track of his surroundings because he trusted his Pokémon to keep an eye out for him. Moony was currently acting as his guide as his largest Pokémon paced beside him and kept him moving in the right direction with nudges and the occasional tug on his shirt. Gryffin was bouncing back and forth across the path to search out Pokémon for Harry to speak to. Phoenix was currently snuggled up against his chest under his jacket helping to keep him warm as he slept off his battle induced fatigue. And Trouble was having fun chasing off those Pokémon that would cause problems for the group.

The preoccupied former wizard also trusted Daisy to navigate their way through the forest, Dudley to muscle through any physical obstacles, and Luna to warn them if she _saw_ them stumbling into any life-threatening situations.

His concentration would be derailed around sunset when a spring shower descended upon the forest with a vengeance and the group was pelted by the raindrops that slipped through the leafy canopy over their heads. Harry felt a brief flash of mild annoyance when a particularly large drop of water landed right in the middle of his notes. Shaking the water off of his journal, Harry did his best to dry his notes (so they wouldn't smear) before he tucked the journal back into his pack to protect it from the weather.

Even more annoying was the way that the temperature was rapidly dropping due to the cold rain and the setting of the sun but Harry merely felt resigned to freezing his butt off until they could set up camp and get a fire going. Letting out a soft sigh, Harry returned all four of is Pokémon to their PokéBalls since there was no point in all of them getting soaked to the bone. Ahead of him, the others were also securing their Pokémon in their PokéBalls for pretty much the same reason.

"Daisy, is there a place close by where we can set up camp?" Dudley inquired as all four of them shifted closer to the trees in order to avoid the worst of the rain that was slipping through the tree tops over top of them once their Pokémon were out of the rain.

"Just a second, let me dig my map back out," Daisy replied as she finished clipping her Charmander's PokéBall to her belt before opening her pack to fetch the map. Once she had the map, she opened it up and folded it so that the section of forest they were traveling through was on top so she could hold the map and see where she was going at the same time. A minute later, she announced, "Okay, there should be a small break in the trees up ahead on the right that will lead us to a small clearing."

Eager to get out of the storm and get warm, the four children surged forward to look for the clearing indicated on the map in the hopes that they could find it before the sun finished setting. Finding the correct gap between the trees seemed to be fairly easy; it was rather hard to miss amongst the tightly packed trees. Getting to the clearing in question proved to be harder than expected as the gap they turned into only led them deeper into the trees instead of to an open space large enough to set up a tent.

Worse yet, Daisy's attempts to direct them to the clearing using the map only served to get them turned around until they were traveling in circles in an endless sea of identical trees. Shortly after realizing they were hopelessly lost, the four of them were forced to stop as the growing storm blotted out the last rays of dying sunlight. Daisy was practically in tears by that time; the distraught girl blaming herself for their current predicament because she was supposed to be their navigator.

It was at that moment that Harry realized that this was Daisy's lesson; though what it was supposed to be teaching her escaped him at the moment. He suspected it had something to do with relying on maps since it was Daisy's decision to rely on a map to help them through the forest that had triggered the reaction that had drawn Harry's attention to Luna. It was also possible that it had something to do with arrogance since Daisy was usually confident that she knew far more about this region than they did because she grew up here.

Instead of dwelling on the matter, Harry focused instead on making the best out of a bad situation since it would be stupid to keep wandering blind through the forest or remain exposed to the storm much longer. Nodding to himself, Harry unhooked Gryffin's PokéBall from his belt and released the Lion Cub Pokémon.

"_Gryffin, will you dig us a burrow so that we can get out of the rain?_" Harry asked as soon as the Fire Pokémon had finished materializing.

The Litleo glanced about the stretch of forest they'd gotten lost in before he nodded and set to burrowing into the ground in the largest gap between the trees where there would be fewer roots to get in the way. It would take Gryffin close to thirteen minutes to dig deep enough to avoid the damp top layer of dirt as well as make a large enough burrow that would hold everyone comfortably. Part of the delay was due to the tree roots while the rest was due to the storm since he had to make certain the burrow wouldn't be flooded out by the downpour.

As soon as the burrow was finished, the four pre-teens crawled inside to join Gryffin as the Pokémon used ember to start a small fire in the underground cave he'd dug out. Harry glanced about the burrow once before he took off his pack and started pulling out supplies as he handed out orders to the others.

"Dudley, can you pin the tarp you're carrying over the burrow's entrance to keep the heat from the fire in? Luna, can you organize the Pokémon to collect firewood from above for the fire? Daisy, will you help me to spread this tarp out in the corner furthest away from the tunnel so we have a place to set up our tent?"

Twenty-two minutes later, the four kids were taking turns changing into warm, dry clothes using the tent; the boys chivalrously letting the girls go first. While they waited for the girls to finish getting changed, Harry and Dudley set about making a hearty stew for supper; the two of them making more than enough to share with the Pokémon. They had just finished adding the last of the ingredients when Luna and a subdued Daisy exited the tent and the boys left the girls to keep an eye on supper while they hurried into the tent to get changed.

Harry ended up only needing to change his pants, underwear, and socks due to the fact that he'd been wearing his jacket when it had started raining. His scarf, gloves, and running shoes would also need to be dried out. As he shucked his wet jeans and boxers, Harry couldn't help but think that they were rather lucky that they had ended up in an underground refuge since they would not have been able start a fire in the tent to dry their clothes out if they'd stayed above ground in the storm. He then hurriedly pulled on a pair of clean underwear, sweatpants, two pairs of socks, and a thick jumper.

Once dressed, he gathered up all of his wet clothes and waited for Dudley to finish getting dressed before he unzipped the tent's door so they could rejoin the girls. Harry was unsurprised to find that the two girls had set up the portable clothesline that they had included amongst their supplies to make it easier to dry their clothes in the heat of the campfire. The clothesline was made up of two collapsible six-foot long posts that were spiked on one end so that they could be driven into the ground. The posts then had three pairs of folding side arms at the three, five, and six foot mark that were used to secure the thin nylon cord between the two posts to form the clothesline.

Since they had so many items of clothing that needed to be dried, the girls had set the posts a good seven feet apart and secured all six nylon cords in place so that there was plenty of room to hang everything up. The smaller items (that would dry faster) were secured to the topmost line where they wouldn't catch fire from getting too hot. The lower two lines were then set aside for shirts and pants that could be folded in half and flipped around periodically to make certain they dried completely.

Harry didn't hesitate to immediately add his clothes to the line, using plastic clothespins to keep them from falling off, before he lined his shoes up next to Daisy and Luna's shoes. Dudley joined him half a heartbeat later and neither boy showed any signs of the usual embarrassment that normal ten year olds might show at hanging up their damp underwear beside the girls' damp under things. The two cousins were mentally mature enough to shrug off the mortification that other boys their age tended to feel over things like that.

The same could be said of Luna while in Daisy's case, the fact that she had practically raised her little brother after her parents had passed away had desensitized her to such things.

As soon as Harry had finished hanging up his wet socks, he dropped down beside the campfire to warm himself up. The moment he sat down, Gryffin jumped up on his shoulder and draped himself around Harry's neck like a scarf while Moony laid down behind him and leaned into his back. Phoenix, on the other hand, was currently sleeping right next to the fire by Harry's feet; the Cyndaquil still exhausted from his earlier battles. Trouble was actually still off gathering fire wood and happily scaring those wild Pokémon that had not gone to ground once it started raining.

The Ghost Pokémon was uniquely suited to the task since she could phase through the roof of the burrow with the items she collected (though doing so was slightly taxing for the former Invisibility Cloak). The other Pokémon that were helping or had helped with that task had to slip in and out of the burrow through the tunnel; though Luna's two psychic Pokémon didn't have to actually leave the tunnel to collect the fire wood since they could use their telekinetic abilities to bring it to them to avoid going out in the rain.

Moony had actually been hauling back larger pieces of wood from further away with the help of Rex and Snuggles; the Big Jaw Pokémon biting a fallen tree into sections by ripping out bite side chunks of them, Snuggles using vine whip to collect the 'bites', and Moony hauling them back to the burrow until they had the entire tree in the burrow. Moony and Snuggles had then remained in the dirt cavern to warm up while Rex remained up top in the rain to help Trouble collect smaller branches (and bite the wild Pokémon that Trouble scared).

Harry suspected the Water Pokémon just wanted to play in the rain and mud rather than actually keep working. Dudley didn't mind either way since Trouble, Spork, and Nargle were keeping an eye on Rex for him while he played in puddles and chewed on things.

The rest of the Pokémon were either lounging around the fire keeping warm or tucked away in their PokéBalls. That was especially true of the three Fire Pokémon since it was too risky to send them out into the rain. The reason for that was because their health was closely tied to their body temperature and their active flames. Gryffin was experienced enough that he could withstand being out in a rainstorm for short periods of time without too many problems but that didn't mean he would be happy about it. Charmander would actually die if the flame on her tail ever went out. Phoenix didn't have perpetually active flames like the other two but he was just as likely to get sick if his body temperature dropped too low.

Mankey, on the other hand, was still just too young and too wild to send out with the other Pokémon.

Harry sighed softly as he snuggled back against Moony; the green-eyed ten year old enjoying the heat radiating from his Pokémon and the fire. It wasn't long before Harry began lightly dozing now that he was no longer quite so cold. He would be shaken awake around forty-five minutes later by Dudley and handed a bowl of stew with a couple of lightly toasted dinner rolls. His first instinct was to get up and feed his Pokémon only to learn that Daisy had already taken care of them while he'd been napping.

He happily dug into his food at that point since there was really nothing else that needed his immediate attention. Mugs of hot apple cider were passed around a few minutes later since none of the pre-teens were interested in drinking cold water, juice, or soda even though they were out of the cold. Despite the warm fire and good food, the atmosphere between the four companions was a little strained; or rather, Daisy was in a very glum and guilty mood because she'd accidentally gotten all of them lost and the others were unsure how to cheer her up because it was unusual for Daisy to be so unhappy.

They had almost finished washing the dirty dishes after the meal when Daisy finally worked up enough courage to blurt out, "I'm sorry. I'll… I'll call Gramps to come pick me up as soon as we reach Pewter City."

"Er… why would you do that?" Dudley asked in confusion.

"It's my fault we got lost and you guys would be better off without me to muck things up," Daisy muttered in reply. "I know you guys are mad at me because I got us stuck in the storm."

Harry snorted as he finally realized what was happening here; Daisy was trying to slink off with her tail between her legs because she thought they were going to kick her to the curb for making a mistake. It was something he would have done. Actually, it was something he had done (more than once, too). Shaking away the needless thoughts, Harry refocused his attention on the fourth member of their little traveling party.

"Are you really going to give up that easy, Daisy?" Harry asked softly. "So you made a mistake; big deal. We've all made a few mistakes since we left Pallet Town. Or have you already forgotten about what happened with the Spearow in Berry Meadow? Sure, we're a little lost right now but it's not as if we're in dire straights. We have plenty of food and a secure place to stay while we wait out the storm. Once the storm passes, we can pick a direction and start walking until we find our way out."

"But… but what if we just end up walking in circles again?"

"We should have at least one compass between us or, worst comes to worst, we can take turns climbing the taller trees to get our bearings every half an hour or so," Dudley suggested now that he too knew what was going on.

"Daisy, none of us are angry," Luna stated next as she turned to face Daisy with her blind eyes. "We know you didn't get us all lost on purpose." Luna then closed her eyes and tipped her head to the side before she dreamily chanted, "And it was necessary for the navigator to learn that ink drawn lines, once set onto paper, can not keep up with nature and the stars."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Daisy asked as her brow furrowed in confusion.

"_It means that the world is ever changing but that human maps are frozen in time,_" Spork clarified as he bounced on his coiled tail beside Luna.

"Translation, Harry?" Dudley prompted as he tucked the clean Pokémon bowls back into their proper packs.

Harry ignored his cousin for a moment as he turned back to Daisy to ask, "Just out of curiosity, Daisy; how old is that map you have of Viridian Forest?"

"Um, I don't know… it was my dad's, so around fifteen years, I think. Why?"

"And you said that you thought that the paths through the forest were maintained up until the Western Road was built a few years ago, right?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Harry replied as he gestured towards the ceiling of the burrow with one hand. "The map you have is at least a decade and a half old and the forest paths are no longer maintained; meaning that the forest has been steadily reclaiming the various trails that were mapped out on the map you have over the past two or three years. There's also no telling just how many trees sprang up or were knocked down since that map was first drawn."

"Oh," Daisy blurted out in sudden understanding as she blushed bright red from the obvious mistake she'd made with the map she'd chosen to use. "I didn't even think about buying updated maps. I thought it would save money to just bring my parents' old maps with me. So it really _is_ my fault that we got lost."

"There is no need for you to feel ashamed because you wanted to hold onto the connection to your parents that those maps represented," Harry quietly offered as he thought about his attachment to the Invisibility Cloak after he had first learned that it had belonged to his father.

"Does mean that you guys aren't going to ditch me as soon as we get to Pewter City?"

"Nope, you're stuck with us!" Luna chimed as she beamed happily at a much less distraught Daisy.

"I guess that means that I'll be buying new maps in Pewter City and sending all of the old maps back to Gramps."

"_Lesson learned,_" Nargle chirruped from Luna's lap and Harry briefly glanced at the pale green Bird Pokémon before he turned his attention back to Daisy.

"Or, you could keep them on hand and use them to track the changes in the environment; since that is bound to be at least a little bit important to the research that Harry is doing for Professor Oak," Dudley countered before Harry could make his offer to pay for the new maps.

"That would be especially true in places like this forest where large scale changes will have affected the wild Pokémon that live in them," Harry added as he mentally switched gears in order to factor Dudley's suggestion into the planned research that he and Prof. Oak had already discussed. "It might even be a good idea to check pawn shops or second hand bookstores for more old maps. Multiple maps of a single area from various decades would be best since it would help to show the progression of the changes. And of different types maps of the same area; since demographic maps will show different data than, say, a topographical map. The only drawback is that I suck at reading maps."

"I could help you with that," Daisy offered with a trace of excitement. "I'm really good at reading maps… even if they are no longer accurate. I could even look up the census records in each town we pass through in order to map out the changes that were brought about due to the increases of each city's population in addition to its physical expansion."

"If the two of you are going to go into geek mode, I'm going to bed," Dudley teasingly drawled as he climbed to his feet and headed for the tent; his words drawing laughter and eye rolls from the others.

Luna would follow her fellow blond a few minutes later while Daisy and Harry spent an hour discussing the alternate methods of research that she was willing to do; research that would compliment the work he was already doing for Prof. Oak. At the end of that hour, Daisy would excuse herself after one yawn too many while Harry stayed up so he could start organizing his research notes on the Viridian Forest to lay the framework for his next report. He would eventually fall asleep beside the fire a couple of hours later when his body could no longer keep up with his brain.

* * *

**Notes:**

Viridian Forest Way-Stations – I purposefully excluded the existence of the way-stations/guard-stations leading in to and out of the Viridian Forest that appear in the games. Part of that was due to the fact that I don't recall seeing the stations in the anime and the rest was because the story's timeline is currently sitting five years prior to the start of canon's timeline (which I see as the start of Ash's Pokémon Journey). That basically means that there are some things that are still in the metaphorical design stages or in the process of being built (such as the Celadon Game Center from several chapters back). That will also apply to certain people; such as the current Gym Leaders.

PokéDexes – in case it wasn't obvious, the current PokéDexes that Harry and the others are using do not have a map function. My reasoning for that is pretty much the same for the other changes I've made; meaning that these PokéDexes are basically the forerunners to the PokéDexes and that they are rather primitive when compared to the canon PokéDex. The current functions of the PokéDex include; the Pokémon Index (only covering Kanto and Johto fully while holding limited info on the common Pokémon from the other regions through Prof. Oak's colleagues), e-mail capability, tracking of Party Pokémon, on-board camera, electronic address book, &amp; battle tracking.

You can expect to see their PokéDexes upgraded with various features periodically throughout their journey so that they will eventually reflect game canon PokéDexes.

* * *

**AN:** _That should be it for today, I think. I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow night so long as we don't have any more problems with the power; so keep your fingers crossed. ~ Jenn  
_


	17. Training Break

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Training Break

_April 06, 2031  
Viridian Forest, Route 02  
Kanto Region_

Harry woke to the smell of hot bacon grease the next morning and he groggily squirmed out from beneath the pile of still sleeping Pokémon that he'd been buried beneath. Two seconds after he was clear, he had to dive back into the tangle of limbs in order to dig out his glasses when he discovered that they weren't tucked into the pocket case Ms. Ketchum had given him to keep them in for Christmas. The next time he surfaced, he could actually see and he glanced about to find Dudley cooking breakfast over the camping stove they'd brought with them.

"How do you want your eggs?" Dudley asked without looking up from the bacon he was frying.

"I completely forgot all about the eggs," Harry half muttered to himself as Dudley's question reminded him about the basket of soft-boiled eggs that Chansey had given him. He stumbled over to the supply pack and dug through it until he found the basket in question so that he could snag one of the eggs. He then passed it over to Dudley and asked, "Could you just quarter this one and heat it up for me? I was supposed to eat it last night but I completely forgot."

"Is this another Chansey Egg like the one you had the other day?"

"Yeah, Nurse Joy's Chansey gave me an entire basket of them and ordered me to eat one every night for each day I spend on the road."

"Did she give you a reason why?"

"Yep; she said I was too skinny and that they'd help me gain weight and keep me from getting sick again. Though, I really doubt I need to worry about getting sick again since I haven't been sick since we first got here despite how hard it is for me to keep warm."

"So, basically, you were being mothered by a Pokémon?" Dudley inquired as he shot Harry a smirk.

"Prat," Harry huffed around a grin as he headed for the blanketed off corner that held the latrine pit they'd dug the previous night so that he could empty his bladder.

When he finished, he sprinkled a scoop of dirt back into the small pit to prevent the smell of urine from filling the cave and then washed his hands using the bag of water and bar of soap that was strung up on the wall outside of the makeshift loo above a second hole (to catch the water). He then returned to the campfire to help Dudley with breakfast; taking the pack of sausages his cousin had set out so that he could thread half of them onto a skewer in order to cook them over the campfire.

"What are we going to do while we're waiting for the storm to blow out?" Dudley asked as he pulled several crispy strips of bacon out of the pan and stacked them on a paper towel before he placed more in the pan. "I mean, I know that we're going to stay here but it's going to get real boring real quick just huddling around the campfire."

"We could always train our Pokémon," Harry suggested as he rotated the sausages so that they wouldn't burn. "Nix is close to unlocking **Quick Attack**. I was also thinking about having Gryffin teach him **Dig**, so that Gryffin wouldn't have to do all of the work the next time we want to take refuge underground."

"You think he'd be willing to teach Rex **Dig** too? 'Cause I really need to work with Chip in order to get him to start listening to me before I even try to use him in an Official Battle."

"Chip…? Are you talking about your Mankey?"

"Yeah, my Mankey has quite the attitude, so I figured that I might was well go ahead and name him after the huge chip he has on his shoulder," Dudley quipped with a snort.

Harry snickered in response to the method that Dudley had used to name his newest Pokémon before he offered, "I'll ask Gryffin once he wakes up but I don't think he'd mind teaching Rex **Dig**."

"Thanks, that will save me from having to keep him in his PokéBall while I work with Chip. Last thing I need is for him to start raising a fuss because he is cooped up for hours on end while I'm working with my Mankey."

"You just don't want to get bit again when you have to break them up," Harry retorted with a laugh and Dudley flipped him the bird instead of voicing a response; which only made Harry laugh again because it proved he was right.

The girls would stumble out of the tent shortly after that conversation and right as Harry was pulling the first batch of sausages from the skewer. The two of them made their way to the latrine pit first before washing their hands and joining the boys at the fire. Dudley asked them how they'd like their eggs once they were seated and set another frying pan on the camp stove before he dropped a tablespoon of butter into the pan and turned on the burner. By the time the second batch of sausages was done, Dudley was plating up the bacon and eggs he'd made.

The scent of hot food (especially the enticing scent of a soft-boiled Chansey Egg – which Dudley had heated up last since it had only needed to be warmed up and not cooked) soon had the Pokémon that had spent the night outside of their PokéBalls stirring. Seated as he was beside the saddle-pack that held their supplies, Harry automatically began measuring out the different types of PokéFood for the Pokémon while Daisy, who had taken a seat on the other side, poured a scoop of leftover stew from the previous night's supper overtop of the food except in cases where the Pokémon refused to eat any kind of meat (such as Snuggles) before handing the bowl to the proper Pokémon.

More than one of the Pokémon grumbled about not get any of the Chansey Egg but Harry didn't want to earn the ire of the mothering Chansey if she were to learn that he had not followed her orders. And sharing the egg that he was supposed to have eaten last night with all of the Pokémon would have meant he hadn't eaten the entire thing as he had promised he would. Bad enough he'd forgotten to eat it before he went to bed.

"Where did the Chansey Egg come from?" Daisy inquired when she noticed the four yolk-less quarters of egg on Harry's plate once they'd finished feeding the Pokémon.

"Chansey gave me a dozen of them before we left the Pokémon Center; I'm supposed to eat one every night while we're traveling but I forgot all about it last night. It's supposed to help keep me from getting sick again and to help me put on a little weight. Or at least keep me from losing weight from all of the walking we'll be doing."

"Twelve eggs aren't going to last very long," Dudley remarked as he accepted Chip's unmarked bowl from Daisy so that he could personally feed the contrary Pokémon when he released him from his PokéBall – an attempt on his part to establish a bond with the aggressive Pig-Monkey Pokémon.

"She told me to show the blanket that came with the egg basket to any Chansey that worked at a Pokémon Center and that they would refill the basket for me each time I ran out. Something about the blanket letting them know that I was under her care or something."

"Oh, she gave you a Chansey Blanket," Daisy exclaimed with a trace of excitement. "It's very rare for Chanseys to give those out to humans since they're typically used to identify sickly or severely injured Pokémon."

"What's so special about the blankets?" Dudley asked curiously as he kept a close eye on Chip to make certain he wasn't going to cause trouble.

"They are woven from the soft belly fur of Ninetales and help to regulate the temperature of the person or Pokémon that it is wrapped around and they are also known to repel dirt and germs. The color of the blanket reflects the severity of the illness or injury affecting the individual who was given the blanket; red is for critical or potentially fatal injuries and illnesses, orange is for contagious illnesses, yellow is for serious injuries and illnesses that aren't necessarily fatal, white is for multiple injuries or chronic illnesses, blue is for those that were recently healed of a critical illness and at risk of a relapse, and green is for those that were crippled from their injuries and still learning to cope."

"What color is the blanket you were given, Harry?" Dudley inquired as soon as Daisy finished her explanation.

"Blue," Harry and Daisy answered at the same time and Harry glanced at Daisy in slight confusion over how she'd known that since she hadn't known about the basket he'd been given before he'd brought it up just now.

"You had a really nasty case of pneumonia when Gramps first brought you home, Harry," Daisy explained with a small shrug when she caught sight of the look he was giving her. "It would make sense for you to have the blue blanket since you were healed but are at a higher risk of getting sick again because of how much the cold affects you."

"You also quite clearly stated that the eggs you had been given were intended to help prevent a relapse," Luna added in a knowing tone without looking up from where she was sharing bits of sausage with Nargle (the only one of her Pokémon that was not a strict vegetarian).

Harry sheepishly nodded as he realized just how obvious the answer to Dudley's question had been before he turned to Daisy and asked, "So, why is it so rare for Chanseys to give those blankets to humans?"

"Probably because it's rather rare for sick or injured humans to be treated by a Chansey. If any one but Gramps had found you first, then you probably would have ended up in a hospital for treatment."

"Actually, your grandfather was initially going to take Harry to the hospital but Luna had told him that it would be a bad idea for him to do so," Dudley corrected as he moved to break up the latest fight brewing between Chip and Rex before it could come to blows.

"It would have brought too much attention to us when we had no way of protecting ourselves or our Pokémon since we didn't have licenses for them at the time," Luna quietly offered when Daisy glanced in her direction.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense."

Silence fell over the group after that as they all turned their attention to their food. Once the four humans had eaten their fill, the leftovers were offered to those Pokémon that were carnivorous or omnivorous by nature. The clean up was then split between the four of them before the group sat down to discuss their plans for the day since there had been no signs of the rain letting up; the sound of the ongoing storm easily filtering down through the tunnel.

"How are we going to keep the younger Pokémon from growing bored without locking them in their PokéBalls all day?" Daisy asked as she cuddled with her Charmander.

"Dudley and I were talking about that earlier and I figured we could use this time to train them," Harry answered as he added a few chunks of wood to the fire to keep it from going out. "That reminds me…" Harry murmured as he turned to face Gryffin as he asked, "_Gryffin, would you be willing to teach Nix and Rex how use the move __**Dig**__? That way you wouldn't have to make the underground shelters all by yourself every time._"

"_Boring!_" Rex promptly declared from where he was sticking his nose out of the tarp that was hung over the entrance tunnel to keep in the heat inside the burrow. "_I don't need to hide in a battle!_"

"_What about using it for sneak attacks?_" Harry asked before Chip could open his mouth to insult the Big Jaw Pokémon in response to Rex's claim when he spotted the Mankey smirking from the corner of his eye. Rex immediately withdrew his head from beneath the tarp and danced over to Gryffin's side as he went from disdainful to eager and Harry covered a up a smirk over how easy it was to convince the Water Pokémon to learn the new attack. "_What do you say, Phoenix; are you interested in learning __**Dig**__ too?_"

Phoenix shrugged as he burrowed beneath Harry's shirt to hide from the sudden attention when several of the Pokémon turned to look at him to see what his answer would be. Harry sighed in fond exasperation and pet his Cyndaquil through his shirt as he returned his attention to Gryffin to hear the Lion Cub Pokémon's answer.

"_I don't mind teaching them __**Dig**__,_" Gryffin replied as he playfully pounced on Rex.

"I take it that Gryffin just agreed to teach Rex **Dig**?" Dudley asked as he pulled his eyes away from the wrestling Pokémon to meet Harry's amused gaze.

"Yeah; Rex didn't want to learn it at first but I talked him into it."

"Thanks; keeping Rex distracted will make it easier for me to train Chip."

"Are you going to supervise their training or work on your research for Gramps?" Daisy inquired as she glanced between the two boys.

"I was actually going to spend some time with Moony and Trouble since they usually get far less of my attention than Gryffin and Nix do. I still need to figure out what other moves those two have too. What about you? Do you know what you want to work on with your Charmander?"

"I was actually hoping to help her unlock Dragon Rage."

"If you're willing to have her battle Chip, we could help you with that; since my Mankey tends to tick the others off without much effort," Dudley offered with a slight trace of exasperation in his tone as he noted that his Mankey had slipped away from him [again] to pester Rex and Gryffin.

"I think that's a great idea," Daisy agreed while the Charmander frowned at Chip with narrowed eyes and Harry suspected that was going to be a rather explosive training session.

"Harry, do we have enough antidotes to spare one for Snuggles' training?" Luna asked Harry as Dudley and Daisy began going over the details for their joint training. "I'd like to work on increasing his accuracy when using **Poison Powder** but only if I can heal Nargle and Spork in case they end up getting poisoned while they're helping me train him."

"We should have at least twenty of them; so there shouldn't be any problem with you using one or two," Harry replied as he dug through the Pokémon supplies to pull out two hand-sized spray bottles that had the word ANTIDOTE written on their labels and were filled with yellow-gold liquid. "Here you go, Luna."

"Perfect!" Luna exclaimed as she collected both bottles and tucked them into her pocket. "Thanks, Harry."

"You're welcome, Luna," Harry replied as he watched his blind friend collect her Pokémon and drift over to the corner of the burrow opposite of the latrine where Snuggles training wouldn't affect the others.

Dudley and Daisy were the next ones to move off as they headed out into the tunnel to hold their mock battles in a place where there would be far fewer distractions (and Pokémon). Harry withdrew Phoenix from beneath his shirt at that point and sent his Cyndaquil trundling off in Gryffin's direction as the Lion Cub Pokémon led the still excited Rex off behind the tent to teach the **Dig** to the pair. The green-eyed Trainer then dug out a Pokémon Brush and moved over to Moony's side so he could brush out the Absol's bone-white fur.

The Disaster Pokémon let out a rumbling purr of pleasure and leaned into the brushstrokes; increasing his resemblance to an overlarge house cat. Harry smothered a quiet chuckle in response to Moony's behavior as he continued to run the brush through his fur. As he groomed his largest Pokémon, Harry quizzed him about the Moves he knew. Those moves included **Perish Song**, **Razor Wind**, **Feint**, **Pursuit**, **Bite**, and **Swords Dance**. Three of those moves were Physical Attacks (**Feint**, **Bite**, and** Pursuit**), one was considered a Special Attack (**Razor Wind**), and the last two were Status Attacks (**Perish Song** and **Swords Dance**).

Harry had thought **Perish Song** would be considered as a Physical or Special Attack but the move didn't actually cause any physical damage; it actually targeted what humans called a Pokémon's Battle Health which was measured in Hit Points or HP. Another term often used to describe a Pokémon's HP was Stamina or Battle Stamina. A Pokémon with low or poor Stamina was considered weak since they would not be able to endure very many 'hits' before they were knocked out. Young Pokémon (or low level Pokémon) usually had low stamina and were therefore easily knocked out during a battle.

The move **Perish Song** wiped out a Pokémon's HP in one fell swoop; regardless of how high their HP levels were. And the number of Pokémon that it targeted appeared to be unlimited. So long as a Pokémon heard the haunting melody, they would faint. Humans that heard **Perish Song** would also be knocked unconscious despite the fact that humans didn't have the equivalent of a Pokémon's HP due to the 'energy waves' produced by the attack overwhelming the brain.

After lavishing attention on Moony for a little over an hour, Harry sent the Absol off to track down Trouble (who'd vanished as soon as she'd finished eating and before Harry had announced he wanted to spend time with her) while he went to check on Gryffin and his two students. He found them in a little side burrow that Gryffin had dug to give them a place to train where there wasn't a risk that someone would fall in the holes that technique caused.

Harry watched them working for a few minutes. He couldn't help but hide a grin because it was kind of amusing to watch the two Starter Pokémon spin themselves in circles as they attempted to activate the move. Their efforts mostly just kicked up dust and made them dizzy but the little two and three inch pot holes scattered about the little room were a clear indication that they were still learning something from their failed attempts. Also amusing was Gryffin's barked orders; the Litleo sounded like a drill sergeant training new recruits instead of a Pokémon teaching a move to a couple of fellow Pokémon.

"_Focus your energy downwards, Rex; the idea is to cut through the ground, not the air! Put more claw into your spin, Phoenix; that dirt isn't going to cut itself!_"

"_Why don't the three of you take a short break; you've been working on this for over an hour,_" Harry suggested when he saw both younger Pokémon glare at Gryffin in response to his comments. The two younger Pokémon eagerly obeyed the suggestion and they rushed out of the training burrow in the blink of an eye while Gryffin slumped down in place and began rolling back and forth in the dirt. "_Having fun, Gryffin?_"

"_Yep!_"

"_That's good._"

"_What kind of training are you going to work on with me once I'm done teaching the others __**Dig**__?_"

"_I don't know. Is there a new move you'd like to learn? Or did you want me to help you improve one of your five existing moves?_"

"_I want to unlock another Fire Type Move,_" Gryffin stated after thinking about it for a couple of minutes.

"_We can look up which moves are available for you at your current level after lunch then,_" Harry offered as he reached down to scratch behind Gryffin's ears.

"_Okay!_" Gryffin purred as he leaned into Harry's hand.

Harry chuckled in response to his Pokémon's excitement before he returned to the main burrow to check on Rex and Phoenix as well as to see if Trouble had returned to the burrow yet. He would find Rex soaking in one of the water dishes while Phoenix was practically sitting in the fire. Heading over to the supply pack, Harry dug out a couple of berry cakes for the two Pokémon to help cheer them up and give them a little energy boost. He'd barely sat back down next to the fire before Trouble popped up beside him in yet another one of her attempts to spook him.

Harry only laughed and snagged the brushed he'd used to groom Moony so he could waggle it in a silent offer. The Ghost Pokémon pouted at him (for his lack of fear) before she settled on his knee so that he could brush out her ghostly tresses. As he ran the brush over the strange not-quite hair but not really body parts that flowed from Trouble's head, Harry listened to the playful Pokémon list all of the Pokémon she'd frightened so far this morning (and did his best to ignore the chill radiating from the ghost as she half sank into his leg).

After she'd finished recounting her wild encounters, Harry prompted her to list all of the moves she currently knew. She readily listed them and provided plenty of extra commentary on how she'd used those moves to spook some of the wild Pokémon she'd encountered that hadn't been started by her sudden appearance. Those moves were **Confuse Ray**, **Mean Look**, **Spite**, **Astonish**, and **Psywave**.

The first three were all Status Attacks. **Confuse Ray** 'scrambled' a Pokémon's mind to make them confused, **Mean Look** forced the target to stare into the user's eyes to prevent them from running away, and **Spite** tricked a Pokémon into forgetting how to use the most recent move it used for up to five hours. **Astonish** was a Physical Attack that could make a Pokémon flinch or cringe if they are startled at the time that it hit them. And **Psywave** was a Special Attack that hit the target with a low level wave of energy.

Harry had actually been surprised to learn that Trouble knew **Psywave** since that move was actually a Psychic Type Move and not a Ghost Type Move. It was rather interesting to learn that some Pokémon could learn Type Moves that were not related to their specific type. He'd already known that on some level, since most of his Pokémon could use Normal Type moves even though Gryffin was the only one of his Pokémon that was a Normal Type thanks to his dual nature. He just hadn't realized that there was a wider range of moves that were shared between Types.

At first, he thought it strange that a Ghost could use a Psychic Move until he realized that some Psychic Moves were pure energy attacks and that most Ghost Pokémon could easily manipulate energy on some level. If they couldn't, then Trouble wouldn't be able to feed on the fear she inspired in her targets. Harry made a mental note to do more research on Pokémon Moves in order to better understand why Pokémon seemed to be limited to learning specific move sets as they leveled up if they were capable of learning other moves.

After lavishing attention on his Misdreavus for around an hour, Harry sent her off to play with a promise that he'd train with her later that afternoon. Though he had no idea what he was going to work with her on; given that she was far more interested in causing mischief and scaring the piss out of people and Pokémon over actually battling. He also needed to think about what kind of training he was going to work with Moony on. At least he sort of had a plan for Gryffin's training; helped in no part by the fact that the Lion Cub Pokémon had an idea of what he wished to learn.

Putting the matter out of his mind for the moment, Harry checked the time and noticed that it was actually getting fairly close to noon. Since the others were still obviously busy with their training (he could hear Luna encouraging Snuggles in the background and the lack of sound from the others was an indication that the two of them were still in the tunnel), it would fall on him to make lunch. Harry didn't mind; he liked cooking for people who would appreciate his effort.

Humming to himself, Harry dug through their supplies for the ingredients he would need to make a ham casserole with cheesy noodles. After a brief moment's consideration, he decided to make enough for the Pokémon to each have a bit to go with their usual food since they would need the carbs after their training session. He'd just have to make sure to leave some of the cheese and noodles on the side for those Pokémon that didn't eat meat.

Once he'd pulled out the ingredients he would need to make the casseroles, Harry set a large pot of water to half in the fire to boil for the noodles before he pulled out the cast iron Dutch-oven that he would being using to bake the casserole in. He then diced up an onion, half a green bell pepper, and shredded three large pieces of garlic. Harry would then set those to sauté in a sauce pan with a bit of butter while he chopped the ham into thumbnail sized chunks and grated the cheddar cheese.

As he took care of those two tasks, Harry stirred the onion, pepper, and garlic mix so it didn't burn and added the noodles to the water to soften them up. After the onions had turned clear, Harry added flour to the sauce pan and stirred it to keep it from burning. The flour soon turned a golden brown and Harry slowly added the milk he'd pulled out in order to make the white sauce for the casserole before he added the cheese. While he waited for that to thicken, Harry drained the noodles and dumped around three-quarters of them into the Dutch-oven.

He then pulled the cheese sauce from the camp stove and poured most of it into the Dutch-oven before dumping the last of it into the pot that held the rest of the noodles. He stirred both dishes to thoroughly mix the cheese sauce into the noodles before he added the diced ham to the casserole after he had set the homemade macaroni and cheese aside to cool. The lid of the Dutch-oven was then settled into place and the entire pot settled into a pile of embers that Harry had separated from the fire. Several more embers were placed onto the cast iron lid so that the casserole would cook evenly.

While that was cooking, Harry set about making some garlic bread and heating up some green beans to go with the casserole. He had just placed the foil-wrapped garlic bread on top of the Dutch-oven to toast the bread when everyone else began trickling towards the campfire as the enticing scent of lunch caught their attention. Once they had washed their hands, Dudley and Daisy started measuring out Pokémon food for their Pokémon companions while Luna fished out plates and utensils for the four of them.

The two of them were just finishing up that task when Harry pulled the Dutch-oven and the bread off of the heat and began plating everything up. Harry passed the first three plates to the others before he filled a plate for himself and sat down near where his four Pokémon were happily chowing their food. For the rest of the meal, the only sounds heard were the clinking of silverware against plates and the crunching of bread and dried Pokémon food. All in all, it was a rather peaceful moment for the group.

It was actually the first peaceful meal since Dudley had captured Chip through a fluke.

The reason for the peace was due to the simple fact that most of the younger Pokémon were far too tired from their morning training to bother squabbling with their rivals. That was especially true of Dudley's Mankey and Totodile; those two Pokémon had thrown themselves into their training with their usual vigor and both were bone tired.

Harry didn't think it would last but that was no reason not to enjoy it while it did.

After the meal, Harry took Gryffin aside and with the help of his PokéDex determined that the only Fire Move that the Litleo was capable of learning at the moment was **Fire Fang**. Gryffin was a little disappointed, he'd been hoping to learn **Flamethrower** but he wouldn't be able to unlock the more powerful Fire Move until he reached level thirty-six and he was currently at level thirty-three. Harry was kind of glad that he'd be able to put off helping Gryffin unlock **Flamethrower**; using such a powerful move underground was dumb at best and suicidal at worst.

Gryffin soon got over his disappointment when Harry grabbed a few of the thinner logs that were about the thickness of his arm from the woodpile so that the Litleo could use them for training. He then cut the logs into smaller sections that were no longer than the width of his hand. Once Harry had a decent sized pile of the short bits of wood, he settled himself on the floor and began tossing the pieces one at a time to Gryffin while the Litleo snapped them out of the air with little grunting growls as he tried to set his teeth on fire to initiate the move **Fire Fang**.

After an hour's practice, most of the bits of wood were covered with gouges from Gryffin's teeth while only a couple of them were also accompanied by teeth shaped scorch marks. An exhausted Gryffin sat beside Harry glaring at the bits of wood while wearing an aura of offended pride; the Lion Cub Pokémon more than a little put out that he'd not yet succeeded in unlocking the new move. Harry gave him a few consolation pets and told him to rest a bit before he tried gnawing on the bits of wood instead of snapping them out of the air.

Harry then sought out Phoenix to see if his Cyndaquil was ready to work on unlocking **Quick Attack** now. Surprisingly, Moony showed interest in learning **Quick Attack** as well and Harry led the two of them to the empty tunnel leading to the outside (Dudley and Daisy no longer using it). He would then spend the next hour having the two Pokémon sprint up and down the tunnel in turns. As he watched the two run back and forth, Harry wondered if he should purchase training weights in Pewter City to help them boost their base Speed Stat to make their **Quick Attack** attacks more effective.

It was something to think about, at least.

After spending an hour working with Moony and Phoenix, Harry and Dudley would spend another hour holding a series of mock battles pitting Trouble against Keys. That hour of training was mostly for Harry's sake as he continued to practice speaking human while focusing on Pokémon; Dudley purposefully staying out of his line of sight. And Harry needed that practice as while he could easily focus on a Trainer in an Official Battle, the same could not be said during a wild Pokémon Battle when there was a high chance that a passing Trainer could overhear him speaking PokéTongue.

After the two of them declared an end to the session once an hour had passed, Harry retreated to the campfire and spent the rest of the afternoon going through his research notes and writing up training notes for future training sessions. After supper (which had been cooked by Daisy, since Harry and Dudley had taken care of lunch and breakfast), Harry spent the evening playing word games with the others while the four of them groomed their Pokémon.

The next day would be spent in much the same way as the storm continued to rage in the forest above them until well into the evening.

* * *

**AN:** _And only one more chapter left in this arc; I should have that up tomorrow, though it might not be up until Thursday because I'm having some technical issues with the next chapter of Twice Blessed; stupid gremlins ate a third of the chapter and I can't find my back-up copy. I don't know if it was the poltergeist or the cat that did it but I know it wasn't me because I double checked this afternoon when I was spot editing. Anyway, I want to get that fixed first so I can get it posted before I finish cleaning up the next chapter for this story. _

_Don't worry; it shouldn't take more than a day. =) _

_Oh, and the last chapter should have had a note about Daisy's age being part of the reason she reacted the way she did in the last chapter; she is, for all of her maturity, only ten while the others are mentally twenty. So she was having a little bit of a childish moment. Don't worry; those won't happen that often. ~ Jenn  
_


	18. After the Storm

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: After the Storm

_April 08, 2031  
Viridian Forest, Route 02  
Kanto Region_

Harry was the last one to step out of the tunnel leading to their underground refuge and he took a deep breath of rain-fresh air as he glanced around the section of forest they had gotten lost in. If he'd thought the forest had looked beautiful the first time he set foot in it, it was nothing to how magnificent it looked now. Every where he looked, the forest practically sparkled as the morning sunlight cutting through the canopy reflected off of the water drops that clung to every surface.

And everything smelled so clean and fresh; it was as if the storm had washed away a film of dirt and dust that had been clinging to the forest.

The only drawback was the fact that the forest was colder than it had been that first day and Harry could already feel the cold seeping through his jacket and clothes. He'd been spared most of the chill while they'd been hiding underground since their campfire had kept the roomy burrow well heated. Being out of the wind and rain had helped too; since even the tunnel had been warmer than the forest above. And even though it was no longer raining now, the air was still heavy with moisture from the recent storm and the breeze more than a little nippy as a result.

Still, despite the cold, Harry was happy to be above ground once more. He had missed the sun.

Many of the Pokémon felt the same way; those that had not ventured outside since they first moved down into the burrow happily drinking fresh rainwater from puddles and leaves or bouncing about playfully. Gryffin was especially rambunctious; the Litleo chasing everything that moved (including some of his fellow Pokémon). Luna also seemed pleased to be out under the open sky again; or, well, near open sky since the forest did block out most of it.

"North is that way," Dudley announced suddenly as he stared at the compass in his hand; the sound of his cousin's voice abruptly reminding Harry that the four of them were technically lost in the forest.

"Do we know which way the original path we were on is from here?" Harry asked as he glanced around the immediate area once again; this time ignoring the view and looking for anything that might point them in the proper direction.

"It _should_ be to the east but there's no telling whether or not we might have unknowingly crossed it in the storm the other day," Daisy guiltily offered as she hunched her shoulders a bit.

"And the rain would have washed away any sign of our passing," Luna sighed as she wrapped an arm around Daisy's waist in a silent offer of comfort.

"Not even our scent would have survived after the storm," Dudley agreed with a grimace. "None of our Pokémon really know this area well enough to traverse it from memory either since the original six that came with us are not from around here and the rest were pretty much babies when we got them."

"True, but Trouble can fly… or rather levitate herself and she can help us navigate from the air; she's already agreed to help," Harry pointed out as he gestured to where the Misdreavus was hiding from Gryffin by merging most of her body in the trunk of one of the larger trees so that only her face could be seen. "You and I could easily climb a few trees to help us catch our bearings too; and while the way the branches of the trees all intertwine means that we won't be able to spot the forest paths that way since they'd still be covered we should be able to spot a large clearing or two."

"I guess that means we need to decide if we're going to search for the pathway we were on the other day or if we're just going to cut our way through the forest until we hit the northern edge," Daisy murmured with a slight frown.

"Or we could do both," Harry suggested as half his mouth twisted up in half a smirk. "We head north until we cross one of the old paths and then follow it the rest of the way out."

"Wouldn't we run the risk of ending up back at the southern edge of the forest in that case?" Dudley asked thoughtfully as he turned to glance towards the south as if expecting to see the open plains that sat between Viridian Forest and Viridian City along Route Two.

"Not if we keep the compass on hand while we travel and keep track of which direction we take at each time we have to go around an obstacle," Daisy countered with a small measure of her old confidence.

"We could also mark the trail like hikers do," Harry added with a nod. "That way, even if we do manage to get lost again or turned around, we could always retrace our steps."

"We probably should have done that when we stepped off of the main path when the storm hit," Dudley huffed in slight annoyance.

"It doesn't really matter now. So, Daisy, if our way north is blocked by trees, which way would be safer to go; east or west?"

"East; it would be a lot safer to end up in the foothills than stumble onto the Western Road by accident."

"Aren't the Beedrill nests on the eastern side of the forest though?" Dudley asked in concern.

"Yes, but they are more towards the middle of the forest."

"Unless they've spread out now that there is less foot traffic passing through the forest," Harry muttered as he thought of the way his luck usually ran and the chances that they'd run into a swarm of Beedrills the moment they assumed that they were far away from the aggressive Pokémon species. "Luna, you've been awful quiet; is there anything we need to know?"

"Hmm…? Oh, no; sorry. I was having a staring contest with Nargle. Oh, and we will not have any problems with the overgrown bees."

"Well, that answers that question. Anything else we need to cover before we get moving?"

"No, I think that's it," Daisy offered while Dudley merely shrugged his shoulders.

The four of them returned their Pokémon to their PokéBalls (so they wouldn't get separated while trying to find their way out of the forest) bar Trouble, who was staying out to help them locate one of the forest paths, and headed east as they searched for a break in the trees to the north. Dudley had taken the lead and the others following single file behind them with Harry bringing up the rear. Every ten feet, Harry would use a hunting knife to notch a tree with a circle at shoulder height to mark their trail.

The reason why he avoided using a line or an arrow was because arrows leading to a dead end path would be useless to others and lines could easily be mistaken for the marks of a Pokémon marking their territory or battle inflicted damage. A circle, on the other hand, was quite obvious and deliberate and those that lead into a dead end or other impassable obstacle could have a slash added through them as a reminder for themselves (and potentially others) not to go that way again.

Trudging through the forest during the day was a far more pleasant experience than it had been during their rushed stumbling about at the start of the storm and Daisy's camera was clicking away like mad as they worked their way through the trees. Harry had split his attention between marking their trail, examining those sights Daisy felt needed to be captured on film, and scanning their surroundings for wild Pokémon to chat with or battle.

It would take the four companions close to two hours to find one of the pathways with the help of Harry's Trouble. They were just starting to celebrate their good luck when the forest around them was suddenly washed in an ominous silence before a strange crackling and popping sound began to approach them from the north. Uncertain as to what it was that was coming towards them, the four friends shifted closer together and dropped their dominate hands down to hover over their PokéBalls in case it was a Pokémon.

They didn't have to wait long before a Pikachu drunkenly staggered around the bend in the pathway they were on. It was rather obvious that there was something wrong with the Pokémon; its forelegs were tangled up in what looked like thick strands of spider silk, its face was tinged purple, it was sparking in erratic bursts, and its jagged tail was dragging limply on the ground. The fact that it couldn't seem to walk in a straight line was another indication. It also looked like the Electric Mouse Pokémon had been in a battle fairly recently given the cuts and bruises that littered its body.

"_Hurts. Tummy hurts. Ick. Ick. Ick. Hurts,_" the Pikachu whined as it staggered a few steps closer to them before it slumped to the ground and stared at them with dazed eyes. "_Stupid stinger worms._"

"He's complaining about his stomach hurting," Harry translated for the others. "From the sounds of it, he ran afoul of a bunch of Weedles. He's also rather young based on his pattern of speech."

"What makes you think it was Weedles that attacked him and not a swarm of Beedrill?" Dudley asked a touch nervously as he tried to peer around the bend in the pathway to see if there was anything chasing the injured Pokémon.

"If it had been Beedrill, they'd still be chasing him based on what I read about the Poison Bee Pokémon."

"The poor thing, he's probably been poisoned!" Daisy exclaimed in concern as she took a couple of steps closer to the Pokémon. "Do you think you can talk him into letting us heal him, Harry?"

"Even if he could, I don't think there's much we'd be able to do for him; not with him sparking like that," Dudley countered with a slight frown.

"I don't think he's in any condition to listen to me right now anyway; he's fairly close to fainting," Harry added as the Pikachu's voice dropped to an unintelligible mutter.

"We can't just leave him like that," Daisy insisted with a scowl as she dug into her pack to grab an empty PokéBall. "I mean, I know he'll probably be fine eventually but if we just leave him like that, he'll suffer for hours before the Battle Effects wear off."

"You'll have to knock him out to put out his sparks before you can capture him," Luna declared rather dreamily.

Daisy hummed an agreement as she unhooked her Charmander's PokéBall from her belt and released the Lizard Pokémon. The young female glanced at her opponent before she turned back to her Trainer and asked, "_Do I have to battle that one?_"

"Don't worry, Charmander; that wild Pikachu is weak," Daisy assured her Pokémon without even waiting for Harry to translate for her. "Go ahead and announce yourself with a strong **Growl**."

The female Charmander pouted for a moment before she turned around and used **Growl** on the Pikachu as ordered. The injured Pokémon shuddered when the attack hit him but otherwise didn't move. The number of sparks arching out from his body also dropped briefly before increasing as the pattern became even more erratic.

"Now hit him with **Smokescreen** and follow it up with **Ember**, girl!"

The Charmander took a deep breath in response to the order before she exhaled a cloud of black smoke that surrounded the downed Pikachu. The Fire Pokémon took another deep breath before she spat out a dozen lumps of red hot coal that shot straight at the smoke covered Electric Pokémon. Harry thought for certain the low level Fire Attack would hit the Pikachu only for it to be deflected by a scattering of random sparks.

"Good try, girl; that would have got him if not for his electricity being out of control," Daisy consoled her Charmander when the attack was deflected. "This time, use **Growl** again before you hit him with a low powered **Dragon Rage** right afterwards."

The Charmander nodded and let out another **Growl** before she seemed to swell up with anger for a moment. A heartbeat later, a steady stream of small purplish-yellow fire balls flew from her mouth and struck the poisoned Pikachu through the cloud of smoke that still clung to the wild Pokémon. All four humans then held their breath as they watched the Pikachu be pushed backwards several feet as the sparks from its body arched wildly about the path. After a few seconds, the sparks suddenly died out and Pikachu slumped as the Mouse Pokémon fainted.

Daisy activated the empty PokéBall she'd taken from her pack and hastily lobbed it at the unconscious Pokémon. The PokéBall lightly bounced on the back of the Pikachu's head before it sucked the injured Pokémon inside of it with a burst of red light. The PokéBall then dropped to the ground and rocked back and forth several times before it fell still; signaling the successful capture of the Pikachu.

"We did it, Charmander! You, little lady, are my good luck Charm!" Daisy crowed happily as she scooped her Starter Pokémon up to hug her before she hurried over to collect the newly occupied PokéBall. "And now we can take care of our new partner. Harry, can you grab me a Potion and an Antidote from my pack, please?"

While Harry unzipped Daisy's pack to grab the requested Pokémon Medicine Sprays, Daisy hastily released the still unconscious Pikachu from his PokéBall and began checking over his injuries. He also grabbed a Burn Heal just in case Charmander's final attack had burned the Pikachu. In short order, Daisy had cured her new Pokémon of poison and partially restored his health with the Potion. The Pikachu groggily woke up at that point and blinked in confusion.

"_What are you?_"

"_Daisy is a human and she's your new Trainer; she caught you just now so she could heal you,_" Harry explained as he crouched down beside Daisy to appear less intimidating as he answered the Pokémon's question.

"_You a funny looking Pikachu._"

"_I'm not a Pikachu; I'm just a human that can speak the Pokémon Language,_" Harry corrected with a small grin; it was always amusing when the Pokémon mistook him for another Pokémon of the same species simply because he sounded like them. "_How are you feeling, little one?_"

The Pikachu blinked again before he sat up a bit and rubbed his tummy and whined, "_Hungry!_"

Harry couldn't help but chuckle in response to that as he pulled the saddle pack off his shoulder and dug out a couple of berry cakes. He passed both cakes to Daisy as he translated, "He's hungry but I figured it would be better for you to offer him a treat to help you bond with him. The extra one is for your Charmander."

"Thanks," Daisy replied as she accepted the cakes and promptly passed the first one to her Charmander. "Here you go, Charm; you did a great job. And this one is for you, little Pikachu."

Both Pokémon happily devoured the cakes with the young Pikachu getting crumbs all over his face. The cute yellow Pokémon then meticulously groomed itself and greedily stuffed the crumbs he pulled from his fur into his mouth. Once he'd finished, he glanced up at Daisy with soulful black eyes that glittered like polished obsidian.

"Aren't you just the most adorable Pikachu ever!" Daisy cooed as she scratched the Mouse Pokémon behind the ears. Her face then grew a little sad as she asked, "I know I didn't really give you a fair fight when I caught you but I really wanted to help you. So, if you want, I will let you go."

The newly caught Pokémon pouted in response to her offer before he jumped up into her arms and clung to her shirt as he cried, "_Don't wanna leave! Still hungry!_"

"He'll be happy to stay so long as you feed him again," Harry drawled with amusement as he dug into the saddle pack a second time and withdrew a bag of PokéFood that he held the bag of food open so that Daisy could grab a handful of the pellets inside. "We don't have any Electric Type PokéFood on hand though, so we'll have to offer him the generic mix until we can pick some up in Pewter City."

"He should be fine with the generic food for a couple of days," Daisy murmured as she shifted her new Pikachu into a more comfortable position before she began offering him the PokéFood one pellet at a time.

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about him complaining about the food," Harry quipped as he listened to the Pikachu's happy cry of '_Goody! Yum, yum, yum!_' each time Daisy handed him another food pellet.

The four of them would start walking as soon as the Medicine used to heal Pikachu had been packed away. Since they were finally back on one of the paths leading through the forest, the rest of the Pokémon were released from their PokéBalls so that they could stretch their legs and burn off some energy. They hadn't been on the road for more than ten minutes before they stumbled into a large clearing that was filled with dozens upon dozens of wild Pokémon. Most of the Pokémon were drinking from the scattered puddles of water that had been filled during the storm.

Those that weren't drinking were either battling or basking in the sunlight that streamed into the clearing through the large gap in the forest canopy that coincided with a lack of trees in the center of the clearing. Chief amongst the species present, were the brown caterpillar-like Pokémon known as Weedle; the Hairy Bug Pokémon. Daisy's new Pikachu tried to climb down inside of Daisy's shirt the moment their group stepped into the clearing; the Weedles that had attacked him had obviously left a lasting impression on the young Pokémon.

A few of the more timid Pokémon in the clearing fled the moment they noticed the humans while the rest either watched them wariness or excitement or ignored them entirely. After a brief discussion, it was decided that the group would head for the northbound path leading out of the clearing by hugging the tree line in order to avoid the bulk of the Pokémon and only battled against those that either outright attacked them (in an attempt to chase them back out of the clearing) or those that wished to challenge their Pokémon to a battle.

Within seconds of them starting their circuitous route around the lush meadow, the wild Pokémon interested in battling them or chasing them off began to converge on them. Unlike the Spearow flock from Berry Meadow, most of the critters stalking them attacked individually or in groups of three or four. The staggered attacks were easy to fend off and all of their Pokémon got numerous chances to put their recent training to use.

Even the young Pikachu participated in a few battles; though Daisy mostly used Charm (her newly named Charmander) to battle. And while he absolutely refused to fight any Bug Pokémon (especially the wild Weedle that approached their group), the Pikachu eagerly faced the handful of Pidgey and Spearow that popped up looking for a fight.

Harry didn't get to talk too many of the wild Pokémon as they worked their way around the clearing; most of them were either too shy or they were far more interested in battling. He couldn't help but wonder if their pent up energy was due to the fact that the storm had lasted for roughly forty-eight hours. The green eyed Trainer attempted to ask the wild Pokémon about their heightened need to battle but they weren't exactly cooperating. He even asked their Pokémon once but the six that came with them through the veil didn't know and the others were too young to know the answer or were raised by humans and therefore unaware of the reason behind the excess energy.

After a while, Harry stopped bothering to ask and simply counted the number and types of Pokémon present as best he could. In the report he would write for Prof. Oak on the Viridian Forest, he refer to those Pokémon they had battled in the wake of the storm as 'a bunch of five year olds on a sugar rush' and describe them as 'having the attention span of a gnat' much to the professor's amusement.

Once the four travelers left the clearing behind, the number of wild Pokémon they faced dropped significantly (though the ones they did encounter were just as hyper as those they'd left behind). The drop in the number of battles they faced with every step they took meant that the four of them made better time now that they were no longer in the clearing or traveling through the tightly packed trees. By the time they stopped for lunch shortly after noon, the four pre-teens had put close to three miles between them and the clearing; though they'd walked closer to five miles due to the way the path wandered east and west at times.

After a leisurely lunch of sandwiches and salad, the group would take to their feet again as they continued northwards in order to cover as much ground as possible before the sunset. The wild Pokémon that they ran into that afternoon would be slightly less energetic than the ones they had faced throughout the morning but they were still just as uninterested in sitting sit down to chat with Harry. By the time the sun began sinking below the forest's canopy and the group began searching for a place to set up camp for the evening, all four humans and their Pokémon companions were more than a little exhausted from the almost constant battling.

As soon as they found a place to kip for the night and their tent had been set up and supper eaten, all four pre-teens crawled into their sleeping bags to sleep. It was the first time that Harry put off organizing the day's research notes prior to resting. He did, at least, remember to eat one of the Chansey eggs prior to laying down.

The next day would start out much the same way as the previous day; only with less weaving through tightly packed trees since they hadn't strayed too far from the path this time. The younger wild Pokémon they encountered throughout the morning were still just as energetic as the ones they'd faced the previous day but the older ones they crossed paths with were far more settled and willing to actually answer some of Harry's questions. Sadly, none of the adult Pokémon could tell him why so many of them had been battle crazed (for lack of a better term) in the wake of the storm.

After lunch, the group's luck fled as they rounded a bend on the path and suddenly found themselves stepping into what could only be a Beedrill nest. All four young Trainers immediately froze as the moment their eyes registered the dozens upon dozens of golden-yellow Kakunas stuck to the trunks of trees and hanging from the branches on silken strings. During their travels through the forest, they'd rarely seen any Kakuna and had not battled a single one; despite the high number of Weedles they'd encountered.

It didn't take long for the four pre-teens to correctly reach the conclusion that they'd just stumbled upon a large Beedrill nest. The only thing lacking was actual Beedrill but the soft hum of beating wings beneath the other forest sounds let them know that the violent bugs were not far away. Instead of panicking (and therefore drawing the attention and potentially the anger of the nearby Beedrills), the four humans silently returned their Pokémon to their PokéBalls in order to prevent their presence from inciting the Beedrill into attacking.

"What are we going to do?" Daisy asked nervously as the four of them shifted closer together.

"Should we back track and try to go around them?" Dudley suggested as he glanced behind him to check and see if the pathway was free of angry Pokémon.

Harry opened his mouth to offer up a suggestion of his own only to snap his mouth shut with a single Beedrill slipped out of the trees. The large Pokémon froze up the moment it noticed the four of them standing in the middle of the path at the edge of the nest. The three-foot tall Bug Pokémon looked like an overgrown bee at first glance until one noticed that the creature only had four feet instead of six, stood upright on its hind legs, had large drill like appendages on the its forelegs, and had another smaller drill in place of an actual stinger. Its wings were also shaped more like a butterfly's wings as opposed to a bee's wings and its eyes looked like ruby gems instead of faceted black diamonds.

"_Intruder!_" the Beedrill announced in a suspicious tone and Harry immediately identified the creature as being both old and female based upon the timbre and pitch of her voice.

His attention was then drawn to the forest as the whisper of multiple voices filled the forest and Harry almost sighed in resignation as he realized that the female Beedrill had just alerted the rest of her swarm of their presence. After glancing briefly at Luna as he recalled her assurances that they would not have any problems with the Beedrill the previous day, Harry stepped away from the others in order to draw the Beedrill's attention to himself. He then offered the Pokémon a respectful bow without breaking eye contact as he likened the creature to a hippogriff; intelligent and proud.

"_Please forgive us for stumbling into your nest; we did not mean to trespass,_" Harry firmly stated as soon as he slowly straightened up from his bow when it became obvious that the Pokémon wasn't going to bow in return; not that he'd actually expected it to. "_We were only following the path through the forest and didn't know it would pass through your nest._"

"_You speak._"

"_Yeah, I do._"

"_Are you a Pokémon in disguise as a human?_"

"_No, I'm human._"

"_That would make you the speaker-boy that the wild Pidgey spoke of._"

"_They're still gossiping about me?_"

The Beedrill let out a series of stuttered hisses that Harry soon realized were laughs. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not but at least the wild Pokémon wasn't attacking them.

"_So, would you and your friends mind if we passed through?_" Harry asked after he politely waited for the Beedrill to get her amusement under control. "_We'd kind of rather prefer not to lose sight of the path we've been following because we don't wish to get lost again._"

The Beedrill in front of him didn't say anything right away and Harry caught a glimpse of more than one of the Beedrills in the trees moving closer though the rest of the swarm didn't actually step out onto the path. After a short period of uncomfortable silence, the Beedrill asked, "_And how many of our children will you capture on your way through?_"

"_None. We're not interested in capturing every single Pokémon we see. I think I speak for my friends when I say that we'd prefer to slowly add new partners to our party rather than capture wild Pokémon just to add them to a collection. We also don't seek to battle every single wild Pokémon we cross paths with unless that it what they want._"

The Beedrill flapped its wings until it hovered a foot off of the ground before it moved up so that it was right in front of Harry; the antennae on its head twitching as it stared Harry in the eye. Once again Harry was reminded of the proud hippogriff he'd saved with a little help at the end of his third year at Hogwarts. The first time he'd looked Buckbeak in the eye it had felt like his soul was being weighed and that was the exact same feeling he was getting from the Beedrill.

"_Will you battle me for the right to pass?_"

"_Yes, but not here; I would not wish for our battle to disturb the Kakunas._"

The Beedrill nodded and began flying towards the bend that Harry and the others had just rounded and Harry took the time to explain to his companions what was going on before he hurried after the Beedrill. They would end up traveling roughly twenty-five yards down the path before the Beedrill turned to face Harry and prepared to battle; the Poison Bee Pokémon merely waiting for Harry to choose which Pokémon she would face.

"_Would you be willing to tell me your level? I do not wish to pit you against my Starter Pokémon if there is a large gap between his level and yours nor would I wish to use one of my older Pokémon if they are of a higher level than you._"

"_Sixty-four._"

"_Thanks,_" Harry replied as he reached down to let his hand hover between Trouble and Moony's PokéBalls for a moment as he tried to decide which Pokémon would be the best match against Beedrill. After another second, Harry rested his hand on Trouble's PokéBall before he changed his mind and grabbed Moony's instead. His reason for picking Moony over Trouble was due to the fact that Trouble wasn't fond of battles and because he knew battling with Moony would strength the bond of friendship and trust he'd established with the former Elder Wand.

Harry released his Pokémon a heartbeat later and the moment the red light of release faded, Harry called out, "_Are you ready for this, Moony?_"

"_Yes,_" Moony replied as he crouched down and prepared to attack the instant Harry gave his first command.

"_So, I was correct; you are traveling with the Disaster Pokémon,_" the Beedrill stated as she stared at Moony.

"_No, I'm traveling with my friends and one of them just happens to be a Dark Pokémon whose history is steeped in superstition through no fault of his own,_" Harry countered without hesitation in a voice filled with fondness. "_He's been a companion of mine for years even if I only recently learned just how special he is._"

"_In that case, I will concede this battle to you and grant you permission to pass through our nesting grounds._"

"_Um, okay, thank you,_" Harry replied with more than a little confusion as he watched the Beedrill disappear into the forest without another word or a backwards glance.

"Hey, Harry; what just happened? I thought you were going to battle?" Dudley inquired from where he was standing several yards back with the girls.

"I think I just won a Pokémon Battle with words alone," Harry answered as he left Moony out and began walking back towards the others. "I also gained us permission to pass through the Beedrill's nest. We'll just need to be extra careful not to disturb any of the Kakunas. So, if you're going to take any pictures, Daisy; I'd recommend turning the flash off so the bright light doesn't startle any of the Cocoon Pokémon or make the Beedrills watching us think we're attacking them."

"Good idea," Daisy agreed as she took out her camera and did just that as the group made their way back towards the Beedrill nest.

The trip through the nesting ground was rather unremarkable given how thick the tension had been when they'd first set foot on that section of the path. It was also uneventful as they didn't encounter a single Pokémon looking to battle; though that wasn't surprising since the only Pokémon willing to venture into that particular part of the forest were the three evolutionary forms of Weedle. And they would not risk damaging the outer shells of the Kakunas during an uncontrolled battle in the middle of their nest least they harm the larvae-like Pokémon inside.

The rest of the afternoon would then be spent putting as many miles between them and the Beedrills' nest as possible to avoid giving the Beedrills the idea that they were going back on their word to leave them alone. Once they felt they were safe, they set up camp for the night and Harry wrote up a report on the encounter that he would send along with his report on Viridian Forest's Pokémon population.

Dawn of the tenth would see the group spending one final day traveling through the forest before they finally reached the northern half of Route Two in the late afternoon. From there it was a short walk of a few hours to reach Pewter City.

* * *

**AN:** _Okay, finally! It took me longer than expected this morning to warm my monitor up. Dang thing refuses to turn on if it is the slightest bit chilled. I really need a new monitor. Hopefully, I can pick one up after taxes; providing the hubby dearest doesn't need our refund to fix the car again. _

_So, anyway, here's the last chapter in this arc; the next arc will, of course, focus on Pewter City and the group's first Gym Battle. There will also be a few side arcs exploring those areas found nearby before we move onto the next traveling arc. I don't know how long it is going to take me to write those up though since I am going to work on a few of my other stories first; top of the list is Magic Online, Wizard on the Courts, and Banished Destiny. _

_For those of you who were disappointed that Harry and Moony didn't fight the Beedrill at the end of the story, I apologize; that scene was planned out from the very start of the story since I didn't want to do the who flee from a swarm of Beedrills scene that is done far too often. Harry's claim of friendship with a Pokémon that is usually feared was all the proof Beedrill needed to know that Harry meant what he said about looking for partners, not pets or slaves to battle or show off. So, you could say that she was testing his resolve. _

_Anywho, I'm off to edit the next chapter of Twice Blessed so I can toss that up tonight. For those interested in following the status of this story's next arc, keep an eye on my author's page as I will update it frequently with new information as I write &amp; edit stuff. And I'll leave all of my readers and reviewers of this story with a big thanks and some homemade oatmeal-bar cookies for sticking with this story. ~ Jenn_


	19. Pewter City

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Pewter City

_April 10, 2031  
Pokémon Center, Pewter City  
Kanto Region_

The quartet crested the top of the incline they'd been walking up and found themselves overlooking Pewter City just as the sun was starting to set. The small mining town was roughly twice the size of Pallet Town with a population that was fifteen times larger than the smaller village. Unlike Pallet Town (which had few buildings spread throughout the fields), Pewter City was a veritable forest of buildings that had been tucked into a canyon at the base of the Crescent Moon Mountain Range (named for the way the range curved around the canyon where the Pewter City had been built and for its proximity to Mt. Moon).

Surprisingly, Pewter City's claim to fame actually had nothing to do with mining (despite its status as an actual mining town) and everything to do with the Pewter Museum of Science. The small town was also well known for its abundance of Rock Pokémon due to its proximity to the mountains where a good number of Rock Type Pokémon were commonly found.

"Where's the Pokémon Center?" Dudley inquired after the four of them had finished taking in the view of the city.

"We're practically standing on top of it; it sits right at the base of the cliff due to how harrowing the journey from Viridian City through the Viridian Forest used to be before the Western Road was built," Daisy answered as she gestured to the steep trail that led down into the village from the top of the cliff that the quartet was standing on. "It's kind of hard to see from here because of all the trees."

"Let's go get checked in so we can get cleaned up and grab supper," Harry suggested upon hearing how close they were to the Center. "We should probably get all of our Pokémon checked out too."

"Se~con~ded!" Luna sing-sang as she latched onto Daisy's arm and began dragging the other girl towards the trail that led down into the city.

"I guess that means it's time to go," Dudley quipped around a soft snort as both boys turned to follow the two girls.

"I can't blame them for being in a hurry. I know I'm really looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed for the first time in nearly a week."

"Hear, hear!"

The thing that struck Harry the most about the Pewter City Pokémon Center as it came into sight just twenty-one minutes later was the fact that it looked _exactly_ like the Viridian City Pokémon Center. It had the same three-storied, box shaped look with the corners cut off, the same reddish-orange roof, the same number of windows that were placed in the exact same places, and the same set of electric doors beneath a painted red PokéBall. It even had the same landscaping layout as the other Pokémon Center.

In fact, the only differences between the two Centers as far as he could tell was the fact that the one in Viridian City had been surrounded by buildings while this one had a backdrop of trees and the cliff wall.

Harry had known that the basic appearances of all Pokémon Centers were supposed to be similar; Daisy had told them that much and the similarities were supposed to make the Centers easier for Pokémon Trainers to find and identity. He just hadn't expected it to look like someone had picked up the Pokémon Center in Viridian City and transplanted it in Pewter City the moment their backs were turned. He had thought the landscaping would at least differ between the two buildings, if nothing else.

It was slightly less jarring to step inside of the building and discover that the interior also matched the interior of the Viridian City Pokémon Center since he'd pretty much expected that after seeing the outside. He also wasn't shocked that the Nurse Joy behind the counter was a dead ringer for the Nurse Joy they'd met in Viridian City; his experiences with the Officer Jennys had sort-of prepared him for the similarities of the Nurse Joys. He was half surprised when a quick glance at the counter of the cafeteria turned up an unfamiliar woman serving food to customers.

With so many similarities, he'd almost expected to find that all of the cafeteria workers were carbon copies of the workers that had worked at the Viridian City Pokémon Center.

Bemused over his own silliness, Harry silently trailed after the others as they made a bee-line for the receptionist's counter where Nurse Joy was currently scanning the health of an older man's Pokémon. Twenty-four minutes later, the four of them had been checked into a pair of rooms and their Pokémon had been given a cursory check-up with Daisy's young Pikachu being checked into the clinic for the night as a precaution to ensure that there were no lingering problems from the severe poisoning he'd endured.

As soon as they had their room keys in hand, the four pre-teens agreed to meet back up in the cafeteria in an hour before they split up so that they could get settled into their rooms and get cleaned up. After letting his Pokémon out to eat, Harry would spend almost the entire hour soaking in a tub of near scalding water in order to dispel the lingering chill he still felt in his bones. He would reluctantly climb out of the tub around the fifty minute mark, when the water had just started to turn tepid, in order to get dried off and dressed in clean clothes.

The last thing he did before he headed back downstairs was to collect his two Fire Pokémon to help ward off the slight chill he felt from his skin still being somewhat damp. Because he had spent so much time in the bathtub, Harry would be the last one to meet back up with the others and Dudley took the opportunity to rib him a bit about taking so long. Harry maturely stuck his tongue out at his cousin in retaliation as the group got into line to order their food. Once they had placed their orders and while they were waiting for their food to be prepared, Harry approached Nurse Joy with one of his 'Have You Seen Me' fliers in hand.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy…?"

"How can I help you and your Pokémon, young man?" Nurse Joy inquired as she glanced up and immediately noticed Gryffin draped around Harry's shoulders and Phoenix tucked up inside of his jacket; both Pokémon currently sharing body heat with him.

"I was wondering if you'd allow me to post this flier on the lobby's bulletin board," Harry replied as he handed her the flier he'd been holding.

"Ah, my little sister in Viridian warned me about you when I spoke to her back on the fifth. I believe she also contacted the rest of our family to share the story about your search for your godfather. After I got off the phone with my sister, I contacted the Pewter City Police Department and Officer Jenny brought me a copy of the APB that the police issued for your godfather so that I could post it on the bulletin board. So, there's no need for you to put up one of your fliers."

"Oh, I didn't know she was going to do that."

"My sister thought you could use all the help you could get to track down your missing guardian and we Joys are honor bound to help those who are sick or injured; even if the only wounds they carry are those of the heart."

Harry wasn't really sure what he could say in response to that so he just ducked his head a bit and murmured out a soft but heartfelt, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, young man. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Er, just the phone number for the local police station so that I can let them know I'll be in town for a few days and that I'm staying here in case they need to get a hold of me."

Nurse Joy happily provided him with the requested information and Harry thanked her for her time before he headed over to the payphones in order to call the station. The call didn't take him more than two minutes to make and as soon as he hung up, he returned to the cafeteria and rejoined the others. He had barely taken his seat when their order number was called and he had to get up to help Dudley fetch their supper from the pick-up counter. As he stared at his supper, Harry couldn't help but compare the adults of this world to the adults of his old world.

The adults in this world were open, polite, and helpful while the ones in his birth world had been closed off, rude, and obstructive. Or, at least, the ones that he'd encountered had been. There were, of course, exceptions in both worlds but they were few and far between based on what Harry had seen and experienced to date. Or maybe it was just that the adults in this world treated _him_ differently than the adults in his former world had treated him.

Two prime examples were Petunia Dursley and Delia Ketchum.

Both women had taken him into their homes; Petunia grudgingly and Delia willingly. Both women had a son of their own to take care of before he'd entered their lives yet Petunia had seen him as a burden while Delia had seen him as a blessing. Petunia had seen him as an intruder in her family while Delia had welcomed him into her family with open arms. Petunia had hated and feared him because of his magic while Delia accepted and cherished him despite the way his abilities made him different.

It was strange and sad; Petunia had been related to him by blood and she hadn't wanted anything to do with him while Delia was a perfect stranger who was happy to have him in her life.

Another major example would be the authority figures that he'd interacted with in both worlds.

In the Wizarding World, the figures of authority had mostly looked down on him and brushed off his concerns because he was just a kid in their eyes; a few had even gone out of their way to abuse or hurt him. Yet in the Pokémon World, the authorities that he'd met to date had gone out of their way to both listen to him and to help him. The thing that astounded him the most was the fact that the authority figures in his former world had known him for years and still treated him terribly while those in this new world had barely known him at all and treated him like an actual person.

"Harry, you need to stop encouraging the wrackspurts to take up residence in your brain by the droves," Luna suddenly announced as she pulled Harry's head around so he was looking at her instead of staring at his tray.

"Huh…?" Harry eloquently uttered as he blinked as his self-claimed sister.

"You've been daydreaming since you sat down," Dudley helpfully supplied with a small snort of amusement.

"Oh, sorry; I was a little preoccupied."

The other three snorted in response to his reply; it had been very obvious to them that he hadn't been paying them or his food a lick of attention. Harry shot them a wry grin and shook his head in response to their good natured teasing even as he dug into his now cold food. He was just finishing the last bite of his food when Daisy addressed the group.

"Are we going to do any exploring tonight or are we going to wait until tomorrow?"

"My feet have decided that the only place they are walking to tonight is back upstairs to our room," Luna airily declared while raising one of said feet up in the air and pointing to it.

"I don't want to go anywhere tonight either," Dudley offered on the heels of Luna's reply.

"If we'd arrived earlier in the day, I might have wanted to but right now I really just want to sleep," Harry stated around a yawn that had snuck up on him. "Why? Did you want to go exploring tonight, Daisy?"

"Not really, I just didn't know if anyone else wanted to."

The unanimous decision to stay inside for the rest of the night saw the quartet throwing out their trash before they split up; Daisy heading into the clinic to check on her Pikachu one last time while the other three headed upstairs to their assigned rooms. As soon as he was in the room, Harry changed into his night clothes and crawled into bed. He'd barely gotten comfortable before he found himself surrounded by his Pokémon; Moony sprawled out along his back, Trouble curled up by his feet, and Gryffin and Phoenix both snuggled up against his chest and stomach.

Harry drifted off shortly after his Pokémon had joined him; the ten year old warm and content.

By unspoken agreement, the morning of the eleventh was spent lounging around in bed in their pajamas with the girls joining the boys in their room. Breakfast was pulled from their travel supplies in order to use up those supplies that were getting old and therefore close to expiring or going bad. They also used that time to tentatively revise their itinerary for their stay in Pewter City since there were quite a few places of interest that were near enough for them to make several day trips to visit them while staying in the City instead of needing to camp out or find other accommodations.

They also worked in time for Harry to canvas the town for anyone who might have seen Sirius. He hadn't bothered to do that in Viridian City due to the fact that they would be passing through Viridian several times a year while they were traveling through the Kanto Region. On top of that, there would be a higher influx of travelers from multiple regions passing through Viridian City around the dates for the next Pokémon Tournament. The wider assortment of visitors would mean a greater chance of finding someone that had seen his godfather if he had ended up in a different region.

There were only two interruptions to their morning.

The first one took place around eight in the morning when Nurse Joy's Chansey brought the news that Daisy's Pikachu had been given a clean bill of health and could be collected from the Clinic at her earliest convenience. The second interruption took place closer to lunch and was one of the Center's staff members delivering the headsets that the group had ordered from the PokéMart in Viridian City.

After putting away their new equipment, the group headed downstairs to call Pallet Town and let everyone know that they'd made it to Pewter City safe and sound. This time, instead of being the first one to call Professor Oak, Harry chose to call Delia instead so that Daisy could be the first one to talk to her grandfather. Harry quickly dialed the number and listened to the line ring while he waited for someone to answer the phone.

"_Hi!_" a childish voice promptly announced when the phone was picked up after the fourth ring.

"Hi, Ash," Harry greeted in return with a smile the moment he recognized the voice on the other end.

"_Harry…? Is that you?_"

"Yep, sure is."

"_Where have you been? It's been __**forever**__ since you last called and you promised you'd call right away when you got to Pewter City!_"

"It's only been six days since we left Viridian City," Harry dryly pointed out around a soft snort.

"_Pewter City is not that far from Viridian City! Mom told me so! That means you should have home called a long time ago! And because you were taking forever, you got mom all worried about you._"

"_Ash, who are you talking to…?_" Delia's voice faintly inquired in the background.

"_It's Harry!_" Ash yelled back in response and Harry had to jerk the phone away from his ear because of how loud the kid had been.

There was a brief scuffle filled with half-whined complaints on the other side of the phone as Delia wrestled the headset away from her son before her voice came on the phone to demand, "_Harry, is everything alright? Where have you been? Did something happen? You aren't hurt are you? Are the others okay?_"

"We're fine, mum; we just got stuck in the Viridian Forest during the storm. No one was hurt; just tired from tramping through the forest for the last two days."

"_You were caught outside in that nasty storm that passed through? How did you keep yourself warm and dry? You didn't get sick again, did you?_"

"No, I didn't get sick; we camped in an underground burrow until the storm blew itself out – so we stayed dry and kept warm thanks to our Pokémon helping us keep a nice roaring fire going."

"_Oh, thank goodness. Did you have enough clean underwear to tide you over while you were trapped in the storm?_"

A faint blush crept up Harry's neck in response to the question even as he replied, "Yes."

"_That's good; you make sure you wash your dirty underwear at the first opportunity, young man! It's important to have clean underwear to change into every single day._"

"Of course, mum; we'll be doing our laundry this afternoon," Harry dutifully assured the woman. "It was really good to talk to you, mum, and I'm sorry you were worried about us but I think Luna wants to talk to you now!" Harry then promptly thrust the phone at Luna before he retreated a safe distance away.

"She brought up your underwear again, didn't she?" Dudley laughingly inquired as Luna happily greeted Delia in the background.

"I don't remember anyone else's mother ever obsessing over their children's underwear," Harry muttered as he did his best to ignore the smirk on his cousin's face.

"Malcolm's mother did; only she used to also bring up the fact that Malcolm had weak bladder control and constantly wet himself if he didn't go to bathroom once an hour. He used to hate it when she did that because everyone else would tease him for peeing his pants like a baby."

"I don't know if that makes me feel any better or not."

Dudley just laughed in response to that and shrugged his shoulders before he drifted closer to Luna when he heard her mention his name. Harry shook his head and left out a soft snort of amusement before he settled himself against the wall while he waited for a chance to speak to Professor Oak. To pass the time, Harry observed the other Trainers that were currently hanging out inside of the Pokémon Center; the ten year old paying particularly close to their Pokémon partners since he'd probably ended up battling a few of them in the future.

His was in the middle of trying to smother his snickers over the whining complaints of an older girl's Wartortle that had sprained its wrist (the Pokémon was upset because its training had been cut short and not because it was hurt) when a commotion by the door drew his attention away from the injured Water Pokémon. His gaze soon landed on a group of five males that had just pushed their way into the Pokémon Center and Harry's eyes quickly got stuck on the fact that the four younger teens, ranged from age thirteen to sixteen, had Weasley red-orange hair while the fifth and oldest teen, who had to be eighteen or nineteen, had auburn tinted dark brown hair.

Pushing away his memories of his betrayers, Harry focused on the little gang of bullies. And, yes, they were definitely a gang. The younger four boys were all wearing matching outfits consisting of black pants, a long-sleeved black shirt with a large red 'R' on the front, elbow length gray gloves, a gray belt, and bulky gray boots that could only be called uniforms. The last teen, who was obviously the leader, wore dark blue pants, a dark blue long-sleeved shirt, a gray vest with the red 'R' on it, black gloves, a yellow belt, and bulky black boots.

There was also no doubt in Harry's mind that the five of them were bullies. Not only had they shoved an elderly couple aside when they had entered the building, they were readily sneering at the other trainers present and acting as if they owned the place. Harry was very careful not to make eye contact with any member of the group; he had no interest in getting mixed up with a group of delinquents. To his relief, the teens didn't stick around for long; they ordered Nurse Joy to scan and heal their Pokémon before they booked a room and left shortly after receiving their key.

"Whatever you do, you can not allow the small crowd of Blibbering Humdingers to see the two Hallows you hold or your old holly wand lest you find yourself hunted by something far worse than an Umgubular Slashkilter," Luna warned in an ominous tone the moment the gang had disappeared from the lobby.

"Right, no battling the bullies using Trouble, Moony, or Gryffin," Harry automatically translated as he pulled his eyes away from the doors of the lift the gang had used to head upstairs and glanced at Luna. "We can always hope they'll only be here for a night or two, right?"

"Harry…? Gramps would like to speak to you now," Daisy announced at that precise moment and as Harry moved to accept the phone from her, he completely missed the guilty expression that briefly crossed Luna's face.

"Good afternoon, Professor Oak; how are you today?" Harry greeted and inquired at the same time the moment he had settled the phone against his ear.

"_I'm well, Harry; thank you for asking. How are you? Daisy told me that the four of you were held up in the forest by the recent storm. Were you able to keep warm enough?_"

"I'm fine; it didn't too cold."

"_That's good to hear; have you had a chance to speak to Delia and let hear know you made it to Pewter City yet?_"

"Yes, I spoke to her several minutes ago."

"_Oh, good, I know she was worried about the four of you when we hadn't heard from you sooner. Now, about the recent report you sent me; in it you mentioned the heightened aggression exhibited by the majority of the Wild Pokémon you encountered in the wake of the storm. That's a phenomenon that has been frequently observed in the wake of natural disasters and storms that drive the Pokémon into hiding. There're typically two terms that are used to describe their aggressive behavior and they are Battle Crazed and Berserker State._"

"Both terms describe the behavior of the Wild Pokémon perfectly," Harry commented thoughtfully as he filed away the new information. "Do you know what causes the Pokémon to behave like that?"

"_No. However, there are two prominent theories on what causes the heightened aggression. The first theory is that the Pokémon are filled with an excessive amount of energy after being forced to wait out the storm; much like a child that has been cooped up in the house for days. The other theory is that the shifting barometric pressure caused by storms and natural disasters wrecks havoc on their internal energies and that in turn makes them irritable. There's plenty of evidence supporting and refuting both theories but not enough to determine which one is the correct theory._"

"Is there any evidence that would indicate that it is a combination of both theories at work?"

"_Yes, but there's enough contradicting evidence that says it can't be both. Part of the problem is that there have been no in-depth studies done on the phenomenon to date. Few researchers wish to spend an extended amount of time around battle happy Pokémon in the wake of a nasty storm or mudslide._"

"I take it that you'd like me to add that topic to my current research projects?" Harry wryly inquired as a smile curled the corners of his mouth upwards in response to the slightly petulant tone the man had used when commenting on the lack of available research for that particular topic.

"_Yes! I don't expect you to do any storm chasing or rush to the sites of recent disasters but if you could conduct on-site surveys when the opportunity arises, it may help shed some light on the phenomenon._"

"I should be able to do that."

"_Excellent! Do I have your permission to speak to Prof Westwood the fifth about you and your abilities? He's an expert on Pokémon Behavior; he created most of the entries that appear in your PokéDexes. His research should help you in your endeavor to unravel the mysteries surrounding Battle Crazed Pokémon and I'm certain that he will be equally interested in any information you can unearth through your research._"

"Just a second, Professor," Harry requested before he dropped the phone to his shoulder as he turned back to Luna in order to ask her if it was safe for Professor Westwood V to know about him.

"I've _seen_ no risk in giving Professor Gramps your permission," Luna offered before he even voiced his question.

"Thank you, Luna-dear," Harry replied as he gave her a warm smile before he brought the phone back up to his ear so he could pass along his answer to the professor. "Okay, Professor, I'm back. And you can go ahead and talk to Professor Westwood; Luna said it would be alright."

"_Thank you, Harry; I will forward him your contact information so the two of you can make arrangements to meet at some point,_" Professor Oak enthusiastically replied. "_Now, that that's settled; are the four of you planning to visit Mt. Moon while you are staying in Pewter City?_"

"I think so; I'm pretty certain that Daisy mentioned it once or twice."

"_Excellent! While you are there, I'd like you to study the potential affect that the tunnel construction is having on the wild Pokémon in the area…_"

Professor Oak would talk Harry's ear off for another twenty minutes about the next research project he wanted the ten year old to conduct. After those twenty minutes, Dudley came to Harry's rescue with the news that Ash and Gary both wished to talk to him and Harry happily swapped phones so he could talk to the two boys. Somehow or other, the little rascals ended up talking Harry into getting them apology gifts for upsetting Delia; though why they were getting the gifts and not Delia herself was a bit of a mystery to the green-eyed Trainer.

Once all four of them had had a chance to talk to everyone, they made promises to call again in a couple of days and said their goodbyes before they hung up. The four of them then borrowed the Center's laundry room to wash their clothes before they left the Center to spend the rest of the afternoon and a good portion of the evening exploring the city. Supper would be eaten in a quaint restaurant they had found tucked between a couple of skyscrapers. After their meal, they would take a leisurely walk along a circuitous route that eventually led them back to the Pokémon Center.

By the time they crawled into their beds later that night, all four pre-teens were exhausted from all of the walking they had done. Their Pokémon were a little disappointed not to have a chance to battle while they'd been out but there would be plenty of opportunities for them to battle throughout their stay in Pewter City. A good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast would go a long way towards restoring their energy levels and the quartet would continue exploring the city on the twelfth.

Each time they ducked into a new store to browse their merchandise for souvenirs or supplies, Harry would approach the store's employees to ask them if they had seen Sirius. It was only his inability to feel negative emotions that kept the former wizard from being depressed or frustrated by the negative responses he received each time. About the only positive aspect of the fruitless inquiries was that most of the stores they visited had allowed him to post one of his flyers on their public notice boards – something that would allow a greater number of people to potentially see it.

Lunch would then be eaten in an open air café located on the roof of a hotel before they spent the afternoon visiting the more popular Battling Grounds scattered throughout the city in order to let their Pokémon have a little fun. Those battles were also a good way for them to determine if the training they'd done during the storm had been effective; and it had been – their Pokémon showed a marked improvement during their battles. They would briefly return to the Pokémon Center after their last Battle to have their Pokémon given a check up and eat supper.

Immediately after their evening meal, the quartet would take their Pokémon to Pewter City's Pokémon Salon where they paid for their Pokémon to be pampered a little as a reward for doing so well during their battles. Afterwards, they would spend the evening visiting those night clubs and bars that allowed underage customers in order for Harry to continue his search for information on Sirius. A few of the managers and owners that he spoke to were even kind enough to offer to take a few of his flyers around to the adult only establishments for him; something Harry greatly appreciated.

Aside from searching for someone (anyone) who had seen his godfather, the four of them had fun listening to the live bands that played at some of the clubs they visited or watching the little shows that were performed at others to entertain their customers. The worst thing that happened to them that night was the constant bathroom trips they needed to make due to the high number of sodas they ordered at each club since 'paying customers' were looked on more favorably than non-paying children looking to 'pester' the staff for information.

They would eventually return to the Pokémon Center around midnight that night and as Harry crawled into bed, he felt a vague sense of disappointment over his lack of success. He didn't dwell on the matter for long though; he'd known from the start that finding Sirius would be a difficult and time consuming task. The world was large and there was absolutely no way to know where the older man had ended up, if he even ended up in this world; since there was a chance that his godfather had been shunted to a different world.

After all, this world could hardly be the only world that existed alongside his birth world.

* * *

**Notes:**

Crescent Moon Mountain Range – In case it wasn't obvious, this is an author created name for the mountain range that looms over Pewter City. I actually came up with the name before I hurried off to look at the various maps of Kanto and discovered that I'd managed to come up with a name that fit the shape of the mountains. Or at least, appeared to fit the mountains above Pewter City since in most of the artwork it looks like the city was built in a little pocket of mountains.

Pokémon Center – the location of Pewter City's Pokémon is not precise since the anime doesn't show it in any of the overviews of the city while in the games it is one of the first buildings you come to when you exit the Forest. I chose to have it at the base of the cliff since that was the most logical location since Pokémon injured when traveling through the forest could then be rushed right to the Center as quickly as possible. Oh, and the idea that the path out of the forest ends at a cliff over the city comes from the anime where Ash and Misty approach the city from above and run into Flint selling rocks.

APB – All Points Bulletin

Professor Westwood V –a canon character that Ash met on the Seafoam Islands where he was studying the process by which Slowpoke evolved into Slowbro in the Anime. According to Bulbapedia, he is famous for his work on the PokéDex; he wrote many of the entries &amp; anecdotes for the various Pokémon. There is no official area of expertise listed for Westwood V and so I selected Pokémon Behavior as his main research topic since it made sense for him to study behavior in order to write the PokéDex Entries and because there were no other professors that specialized in that area – and yes, I checked out every single professor listed for all media versions.

Mt. Moon – like the Viridian Forest Way-Stations and the Celadon Game Center, the passage leading from Pewter City to Cerulean City through Mt. Moon doesn't quite exist at this point in the story; it's currently under construction (or would it be considered an excavation because their drilling through a mountain?) and has been for some time. Projected completion date for the Mr. Moon Path is one year prior to canon start (i.e.; the year before Ash starts his Pokémon Journey – so, another four years based on the timeline of the story).

Pokémon Salon – this is another deviation that I made. To me, it doesn't make sense for there to only be one Pokémon Salon or similar place/person in each region; so, I decided to make them more like the Pokémon Centers and PokéMarts in that there is at least one in each city with the 'world famous' ones being those that are 'canon' according to the games.

Small Gang – gee, wonder who these guys could be... well, if you don't already know, I'm not telling. All I will say is that all five are canon characters with the 'boss' being more of an Anime figure while the other four were taken from the games.

* * *

**AN:** _Okay, this is out nearly two weeks later than I originally planned but the fourth chapter in the arch was giving me more issues than I anticipated. So, anyway, some of you might have noticed that my profile doesn't list this arc as complete even though I said I wasn't going to start posting until it was. The reason for that is because I decided to split the arc in half due to the size and the fact that I haven't had anything to post for so long. There's also the fact that there is so much in and around Pewter City that the arc seemed to be dragging out.  
_

_In any case, there'll be 5-6 chapters in the first half arc and then another 5-6 chapters in the second half arc before Harry &amp; Co. head out to their next destination. I'll be posting chapters 20 &amp; 21 on Saturday and Sunday respectively (since I was supposed to have already posted this chapter and 20 last weekend and the weekend before) and then the final two chapters in the half-arc will be posted next weekend. The other half of the arc probably won't be posted until after the New Year but that'll depend on how much longer it takes me to wrap up those chapters. _

_Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Expect to see the next chapter tomorrow (it's already uploaded &amp; formatted so there'll be no waiting bar for how long it takes me to log in when I wake up). ~ Jenn_


	20. Human Cruelty

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

**CHAPTER WARNING:**_ This chapter contains mentions of animal cruelty._

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Human Cruelty

_April 13, 2031  
Pokémon Center, Pewter City  
Kanto Region_

After their late night, the four pre-teens opted to sleep in the next morning and have another leisurely breakfast in the privacy of their rooms; this time the four of them gathering in the girls' room for the meal. Once they had eaten the last of their food, the four of them set about getting ready for another day exploring the city; their goal that morning was to check out the Pewter City Pokémon Gym.

Their spirits were high as they set out from the Pokémon Center with directions to their first destination in hand. Since they weren't in any rush to get to the Gym, the quartet took their time; often allowing themselves to be sidetracked by an interesting site or quaint store. Their unhurried pace also gave Daisy plenty of time to explain how Gym Battles worked in greater detail now that they were preparing to make their first try for an official Gym Badge.

"Gym Battles, unlike Trainer Battles, are considered Official Pokémon Tournament Battles since the main purpose of the Gym Battles is to evaluate a Trainer to determine if he or she is qualified to enter the Tournament," Daisy lectured as they lazily navigated a moderately crowded street. "Trainer Battles, on the other hand, are viewed more like training aides for a Trainer to gain experience in battling other Trainers. Another difference between a Gym Battle and a Trainer Battles is that you can't just walk into a Pokémon Gym off the street and expect to battle the Gym Leader for a Badge."

"In order to face off against the Gym Leader, you must first register yourself and the Pokémon Team that you will fight with during the Gym Battles with the Gym you wish to challenge. The reason you are required to register before you are allowed to participate in any Gym Battles is because they need to know your current level of experience. Your Pokémon are registered for the same reason and so that they can ensure that the Pokémon opponents your team faces are roughly the same level as the strongest Pokémon in your team in order to allow the Gym Leader to evaluate your skills."

"Once you've registered, you will be required to face off and win against a minimum of two Gym Trainers before you will be allowed to Battle the Gym Leader. The number of Gym Trainers you can expect to face will be determined by the size of the Gym, where the Gym is located, the Gym's popularity, and the number of understudies currently being trained by the Gym Leader. If you are unable to win all of your required Gym Trainer Battles, then you fail your current challenge and won't be able to face the Gym Leader until you can successfully beat the Gym Trainers."

"What happens if you fail the challenge more than once?" Dudley inquired as they turned the corner, crossed the street, and headed towards the outskirts of the city where the Gym was located.

"Well, if you fail the challenge three times in a row in a short period of time, then you are typically banned from retaking the challenge for at least two months but sometimes for as long as six months. The temporary banishment is meant to be an incentive for the Trainer to spend some time doing some serious training to properly prepare themselves and their Pokémon before they make another attempt to retake the challenge. Most trainers will withdraw before it reaches that point though since it is often easier to just challenge a different Gym since it could be a matter of Type Disadvantage."

"However, if you are banned from three or more Gyms due to excessive challenge failures within a six month period, then you might have your Trainer License suspended until you take and pass a Remedial Trainer Course at one of the League approved Pokémon Trainer Schools. If you fail the Remedial Course or if you are unable to win a single Gym Challenge, then you might be barred from all future Pokémon League Challenges. It's not something that happens often but you do occasionally find Trainers that folds too easily under pressure or have Pokémon that refuse to listen to them."

Daisy ended her lecture right about the same time the group reached the Pewter City Pokémon Gym and the quartet took a moment to take in the Gym's appearance.

Unlike Viridian City's Pokémon Gym (which had been modeled after the Pokémon Centers), the Pewter City Gym was built more along the lines of a warehouse with a daunting façade made up of a huge sheet of rock supported by iron girders and several smaller blocks of rock. In front of the Gym, there was a large, dirt courtyard that was enclosed by a low wall made of large boulders. The overall appearance of the Gym was imposing but primitive; an appropriate look for a Gym that focused mainly on Rock Type Pokémon.

After they had finished taking in the Gym's appearance, the quartet started walking again. They had just reached the ring of boulders that surrounded the earthen courtyard when the Gym's doors were thrown open from the inside before the small five-man gang that Harry had observed the other afternoon angrily stalked out of the building – only this time they were dressed more like Harry imagined a motorcycle gang would dress; all in jeans and leather. The four pre-teens hurried moved off of the path leading up to the Gym in order to remove themselves from their direct line of sight in an attempt to avoid a confrontation with the group.

The five teens were already halfway across the courtyard when a small blue Pokémon that looked like it had just been thrashed in a Pokémon Battle staggered out of the still open Gym doors and attempted to chase after the teens as he (the pitch of his voice identifying him as male) cried, "_Wait! Please wait! Please don't leave me!_"

The moment the leader of the small gang heard the Pokémon's cry, the teen stopped walking, spun around, and snapped out a cold, "Stop following me you pathetic waste of space! I have no interest in failures. Now, get lost!"

"_Please don't send me away! I'll do better next time, I promise!_" the Pokémon begged as he tripped over a rock and crashed to the ground with a cry of pain; its clumsiness causing the four younger teens to laugh and jeer at the Pokémon while the leader just sneered in disgust.

"A pitiful Pokémon like you disgusts me," the Trainer snapped as he pulled a PokéBall off of his belt, pried it open with his hands, and promptly released the Pokémon by snapping the PokéBall in half; the destruction of the PokéBall causing the downed Pokémon to glow a bright blue for half a minute.

"_No!_" the Pokémon cried in protest as he struggled to use his tiny legs and fin-like tail to propel himself across the barren courtyard on his stomach. "_Please don't throw me away!_"

"Now, get lost you stupid piece of shit!" the Trainer spitefully spat over the Pokémon's continued pleas as he threw the broken halves of the PokéBall at the Pokémon as hard as he could.

The jagged edge of the hinge on one of the pieces sliced through the Pokémon's left eye when it hit the poor creature and he let out a shrill, keening wail of pain that slowly faded into faint whining sobs as his Trainer turned his back on him and began walking away once more.

Harry took a single step towards the teen that had just callously thrown away and injured his Pokémon only to be drawn up short when Dudley grabbed hold of his elbow and half pulled him around to face the others. Harry made to yank his arm free of his cousin's hold so he could confront the bullies right up until he caught sight of the distressed look on Luna's face and was abruptly reminded of her warning. Taking a deep breath, Harry bowed his head in order to keep himself from making eye contact with the Trainer he'd love to pound into the ground.

The bullies passed by their position just a split second later and the youngest gang member's voice cut through the air as he crowed, "You sure taught that stupid lump a lesson he won't ever forget, Tyson."

"Tch, waste of my time; the fecking thing's as good as dead," the newly named Tyson, the gang leader, sneered as the five teens brushed by the quartet without even sparing them a single glance.

As the sound of the teens' footsteps steadily faded into the distance, Harry found himself wishing that he was capable of feeling negative emotions for the first time since he and the other had been shunted into this world via the Veil of Death.

He _wanted_ to be angry.

He _wanted_ to hate the teen for the way he'd treated his Pokémon.

But most of all he wanted to feel the rush of heated rage flowing through his veins and burning away all rational thought so that he could lash out at the one who had angered him and damn the consequences.

Instead, all he felt was a burning numbness that swallowed every ounce of fury that his heart could produce.

"They're gone," Daisy quietly announced with obvious relief a moment later.

The moment the words had passed through her lips, Harry pulled his arm free from Dudley's hand, launched himself over the boulder wall, and dashed up to the injured Pokémon's side. When he reached the bleeding creature, he heavily dropped down onto his knees before he'd fully stopped running (tearing his pants and scraping his knees on the hard dirt) and practically ripped his pack off his back so he could grab the First Aide Kit he carried in it. He'd just pulled out a couple of gauze pads and a bandage roll when the others caught up to him.

Harry silently noted their arrival but otherwise ignored them as he ripped open one of the gauze pads and poured a generous dash of water on it before he gently rolled the injured Pokémon over onto his back so he could clean the critters bleeding eye. The poor Pokémon let out a weak cry of happiness in response to his touch before he wailed in despair the moment he caught sight of Harry with his uninjured eye; the Pokémon had obviously mistaken Harry for his Trainer at first. He then began weakly struggling in an attempt to escape from Harry.

"_Please don't be scared; I only want to help you,_" Harry murmured in PokéTongue as he lightly pinned the Pokémon to the ground with one hand while his other hand gently began cleaning the damaged eye.

"_My Trainer! I have to return to my Trainer!_"

"_He's not your Trainer any more and a bully like that certainly doesn't deserve your devotion,_" Harry gently countered in a firm tone as he discarded the soiled gauze pad so he could open the other one. He then folded the clean pad into quarters before he gently pressed it over the Pokémon's still bleeding eye. "_Now, please hold still while I bandage your eye._"

"_It isn't his fault I'm a terrible failure._"

"_No, you're not; any proper Trainer would be lucky to have you for a partner._"

The Pokémon said nothing further as Harry used his teeth to open the roll of bandages so that he could secure the gauze pad in place over the critter's left eye. As he worked, he felt more than a little self-conscious as the injured Pokémon intently stared up at him with his uninjured right eye. Once he'd finished bandaging that injury, Harry inspected the blue Pokémon from head to tail to determine if there were any other serious injuries that needed to be taken care of. It didn't take him long to determine that the Pokémon was mostly just battle bruised and utterly exhausted.

"_Okay, I've finished patching you up as best I can but I'm going to need to get you to the Pokémon Center so that Nurse Joy and her Chansey can fix you up properly. Will you be alright with me picking you up and carrying you?_"

"_No,_" the Pokémon stubbornly refused. "_I will not leave without my Trainer's permission._"

Harry let out a soft huff as a short-lived spike of annoyance passed through him in response to the Pokémon's insistence on waiting for a Trainer he knew would never return. He dropped his hand down to hover over Moony's PokéBall as he considered the chances that the Absol could talk some sense into the injured Pokémon. The green-eyed boy was startled a moment later when Luna pulled an empty PokéBall out of his pack, grabbed hold of his wrist, and slapped the PokéBall into his hand.

"This is not the time to have an argument with a heartbroken Pokémon; just catch him and be done with it so that you can get him taken care of before his injury gets any worse," Luna dreamily ordered as she let go of Harry, pulled out her PokéDex, and pointed it at the injured Pokémon.

"_See, even you don't want a failure like me,_" the injured Pokémon declared when Harry confusedly glanced from the PokéBall in his hand down to the round Pokémon he was still holding in place with his other hand.

In the background, Luna's PokéDex identified the Pokémon and promptly droned out, "Poliwag, the Tadpole Pokémon. Its newly grown legs prevent it from running. It appears to prefer swimming over trying to stand.*"

"_I may not have planned to catch you but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy to have you as part of my team,_" Harry reflexively retorted in reply as he activated the PokéBall before he gently tapped it against the least injured spot he could find on the Pokémon's body.

A split second later, the injured Poliwag was engulfed in a beam of red light before it was promptly sucked up into the PokéBall. The PokéBall shook in his hand just one time before it let out a quiet ping to announce the successful capture of the abandoned and abused Poliwag. Harry stared at the now occupied PokéBall for a brief moment before he burst into a flurry of action as he stuffed everything back into his pack and slung the bag over his shoulder as he climbed to his feet with the Poliwag's PokéBall securely clutched in his hand.

"Dudley, did you see where the broken halves of the other PokéBall went? The police will probably want them as evidence when we report what happened here."

"I've got them wrapped up in a plastic bag in my pack," Dudley answered as he patted his backpack. "Luna and I will take them to the Police Station for you while you and Daisy get your new Pokémon to Nurse Joy."

"Right, we'll see you back at the Center," Harry replied as he reached for Moony's PokéBall a second time so he could ask his Pokémon to carry him back to the Pokémon Center; the Absol could run far faster than Harry could and the sooner they got the Poliwag to the Clinic, the sooner he could be healed.

"Remember, Harry, you can't allow the Blibbering Humdingers see the Hallows."

"Damn," Harry cursed without any real heat before he reached out and snagged hold of Daisy's hand with his free hand and began pulling her with him as he started walking. "I guess that means we're just going to have to run all the way back to the Pokémon Center."

"It'll be worth the pain if we can save your new Poliwag," Daisy agreed as she sped up so that they were side by side.

Half a dozen steps later, the two of them broke out into a run; Daisy leading the way back to the Pokémon Center while Harry focused on keeping hold of her hand (so he didn't get separated from her) and keeping a firm hold of the PokéBall in his other hand. By the time they reached the Pokémon Center some eighteen minutes later, Harry's lungs were on fire and his leg muscles felt like they were being shredded with every step he took. It was almost easy for him to ignore his pain though as they slowed down to a stumbling jog when they were only a few yards away from the Center.

Once they had rushed through the automatic doors, Harry staggered straight up to the counter, thrust the PokéBall he was holding out at Nurse Joy, and gasped out, "Emergency! Help! Please, save him!"

Nurse Joy took one look at the blood on Harry's hands and the PokéBall he'd practically shoved under her nose before she grabbed the PokéBall and dashed into the Clinic while calling for Chansey at the top of her lungs. Knowing his new partner was in good hands now and that if anyone could save him, it would be Nurse Joy, Harry allowed himself to sink to the ground where he stood. He barely noticed Daisy dropping down onto the floor beside him and propping herself up against him as they both fought to catch their breath.

The two of them were still sitting there some thirty-six minutes later when Dudley and Luna entered the building with a familiar looking woman in a police uniform hot on their heels. Dudley was the first one to catch sight of them seated at the base of the Reception Counter and he stopped walking and gestured in their direction for the officer's benefit. The officer gave Dudley a sharp nod before she strode purposefully in their direction.

"Are either of you hurt?" Officer Jenny (Harry would eat his left shoe if the blue haired woman wasn't a member of the Jenny Family) demanded as her sharp eyes noted the dried blood on Harry's hands and on both knees of his pants.

"Not really, Officer Jenny," Harry tiredly replied as he ignored the way his leg muscles still burned from the desperate dash from the Gym to the Center and the way his scuffed knees stung and throbbed in time to his heartbeat. "The blood on my hands isn't mine."

"What about the blood on your pants?"

"I don't think much of that is mine. My new Pokémon was bleeding pretty badly from the eye when I caught him so I could get him the help he needed and I only scraped my knees a bit when I dropped onto the ground earlier."

Officer Jenny pursed her lips in response to his answer and held his gaze for a full minute (giving Harry the impression that she didn't quite believe him) before she stated, "Very well, are the two of you able to stand up and walk? I need to take your statements and I'd prefer not to take them in the middle of the lobby."

"Yeah, I think so; we've been sitting here resting for a while now."

"I should be fine too," Daisy added on the heels of Harry's reply.

The two of them then climbed to their feet and Harry let out a soft hiss of pain when he felt his right shoe rub against a blister on the back of his heel that he must have gained during their mad rush to the Pokémon Center. Luckily, Officer Jenny didn't hear him or she might have thought he'd been lying about being fine. Harry and Daisy were then led through one of the doors leading off the lobby into what turned out to be a small conference room while Dudley and Luna remained in the lobby in case Nurse Joy returned with news about Harry's new Pokémon.

"Please have a seat," Officer Jenny instructed as she seated herself at the head of the conference table that took up most of the space in the room and produced a hand-sized notepad and a pen. The two children promptly obeyed the command and the moment they had seated themselves side by side a short distance from the woman, the officer requested and received their names, ages, and Trainer ID Numbers. After writing that data down, she addressed Daisy, "Please describe for me, in your own words, the incident that you witnessed earlier."

"My friends and I were on our way to the Pokémon Gym in order to register for our first Gym Challenge and we'd just reached the courtyard in front of the Gym when a group of teenagers stormed out of the Gym. A rather beat up Poliwag stumbled out of the Gym a minute later. The Pokémon attempted to chase after the teens but it was far too exhausted to catch up with them. When the teens discovered the Poliwag was following them, the oldest boy turned and started yelling nasty things to the poor Pokémon."

"The other four teens laughed and jeered when the Pokémon tripped in its exhaustion while the oldest teen removed the Poliwag's PokéBall from his belt and snapped it; releasing the Poliwag. As soon as the blue glow of release faded, the teen threw the broken PokéBall at his former Pokémon and one of the pieces cut the poor thing's left eye when they hit its face. The teens then left and we overheard one of the younger teens praise the oldest one for doing what he did while the oldest teen made a comment about the Poliwag being as good as dead."

"My friends and I then waited until the teens left before we hurried over to the injured Pokémon to see if we could help it. Harry was the first one to reach the Poliwag and he tended to its injuries before he caught it when it didn't want to go anywhere with him because he wasn't his Trainer. After that, the four of us split up; Harry and I hurrying back here to get the Poliwag to Nurse Joy and Dudley and Luna heading to the Police Station to report the incident."

Officer Jenny hummed an acknowledgement before she turned to Harry and prompted, "Please walk me through the on-site treatment you gave the injured Poliwag."

"His eye was bleeding pretty bad so the first thing I did after retrieving my first aide kit was to roll him over so I could wipe off any dirt that had gotten into the injury before I bandaged the injury to slow the bleeding. The rest of his injuries looked to be battle induced; he was covered in deep bruises from head to tail, had a few scrapes, and was so exhausted he could barely move. I tried to pick him up so I could bring him here but he refused to come with me until after I caught him in one of my spare PokéBalls; he didn't even try to fight the capture."

"Did you get a chance to register the Poliwag's capture on your PokéDex?"

"All of my spare PokéBalls are pre-registered so that my PokéDex automatically updates itself as soon as I catch a wild Pokémon," Harry replied as he dug his PokéDex out of his pocket.

It only took him a few seconds to navigate through the menu until he opened the Stat Page for his current Pokémon Party and clicked on the tiny icon that represented his newest Pokémon before he offered the device to Officer Jenny. The blue haired woman accepted his PokéDex so she could scan the Poliwag's information and then promptly returned the device to him as soon as she was finished.

"Thank you, young man. Now, do either one of you have any more information on Poliwag's former Trainer or his companions?"

"The former Trainer was called Tyson by one of the other teens but I don't know if that's actually his name or if it's just a nickname," Daisy offered as soon as Officer Jenny had finished asking the question.

"I first saw the five of them back on the Eleventh; when they checked into the Pokémon Center while we were in the middle of calling home to let everyone know we'd reached Pewter City," Harry added after giving Officer Jenny time to write the oldest teen's name in her notebook. "And all five of them were wearing some kind of uniform that day; the four younger teens were dressed mostly in black and gray while the older teen was wearing dark blue and gray and all five of them had a large red capital 'r' on the front of their shirts."

"They weren't wearing those uniforms when you witnessed the incident outside of the Gym earlier though?" Officer Jenny inquired as she flipped back through her notepad in search of a description of the thugs while a slight scowl formed on her face.

"No, they were wearing jeans and leather today," Harry confirmed before he thrust the memory of the leader callously throwing away the Poliwag in the cruelest manner possible to the back of his mind lest he feed the urge he felt to hunt the tosser down and teach him a lesson he won't soon forget.

"Yes, the young man that reported the incident described them as thuggish looking members of a local biker gang who had lost their bikes and their brains."

Harry let out a soft snort of amusement and cracked a small smirk as he could easily picture his cousin saying that about the five bullies. The smirk and his amusement disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared when he recalled what the thugs, the leader in particular, had done to the little Poliwag he'd rescued.

"Officer Jenny, what will happen to Poliwag's former Trainer?"

"I wish I could tell you that he'll have the book thrown at him in addition to having his license revoked but the truth is that there really isn't much we can do at this point because he destroyed the only proof we could have used to link the Poliwag to him," Officer Jenny regretfully admitted as she closed her notepad and put it away. "When he destroyed Poliwag's PokéBall and released him, it wiped the Poliwag's information from his PokéDex and he could easily claim that your new Poliwag is not his old Poliwag because Poliwag was identified as a wild capture in your PokéDex due to you capturing him _after_ he released him."

Harry mentally reached for the anger and frustration he wanted to feel in response to that answer but only found the empty numbness where his negative emotions used to reside. After spending a minute trying to force the negative emotions to come forth, he gave up and dropped his head into his hands as he was hit hard with the knowledge that this world held its fair share of 'Weasleys', 'Umbridges', and 'Voldemorts'. He really shouldn't have been surprised but it wasn't all that long ago that he'd been overwhelmed by the amount of honest kindness he'd been shown by most of the adults he'd met in this world.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Officer Jenny asked with honest concern as she hurriedly rose out of her seat and moved to crouch down beside the chair he was in.

"I'm fine. I'm just very… unhappy that that jerk will mostly get away with what he did to my Poliwag."

"I know how you feel and you have my word that I will do everything I can to bring him to justice but, unfortunately, there's only so much I can do without reproducible ironclad proof that your Poliwag used to belong to him. Don't let it get you down too much though; you should be thankful that you saved your new Pokémon from further abuse at his former Trainer's hands."

"Couldn't my Poliwag be given a chance to, I don't know, identify him in a police line up or something?"

"Unfortunately, no; his former Trainer could turn around and say you trained him to implicate him because you have a grudge against him for some reason or another."

Determined to find some way to see 'Tyson' punished for his crimes, Harry opened his mouth to inform Officer Jenny about his ability to speak and understand the Pokémon Language. He figured if he could just speak to the other Pokémon Tyson probably had on hand, then they could prove he was the Poliwag's former Trainer. Before he could actually go through with his reckless plan, the three of them were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.

A split second later, the door opened and Luna stuck her head inside of the room and said, "Pardon the intrusion but Nurse Joy is looking for Harry; she has news about his new tadpole."

"No harm done, Miss Lovegood; we're done here and I will need to obtain a copy of the Poliwag's medical file from Nurse Joy for my report," Officer Jenny replied as she stood up and headed for the door.

Swallowing a sigh, Harry wearily climbed to his feet and trudged after the officer. As he passed by Luna on his way out of the conference room, the blonde leaned close to him and whispered, "It wouldn't have worked, brother-mine; the timing was all wrong for what you were planning."

A sour look briefly crossed Harry's face in response to her words; that wasn't exactly what he'd wanted to hear when he had hoped to find justice for his new partner. He then put the matter out of his mind so he could concentrate on more important matters; such as finding out the current status of his unplanned acquisition. A quick scan of the lobby soon revealed Nurse Joy standing beside the swinging doors that led into the Clinic portion of the Center and Harry murmured a quick thanks to Luna before he hurried across the lobby.

In his rush, he burst the blister on his right heel and ripped open the scabs that had formed over the scraps on his knees due to the way his pants shifted and pulled at the dried blood that had glued the fabric to his skin but he easily ignored the minor irritations. Harry would reach Nurse Joy's side a moment later and instead of firing off a string of demands, he held his tongue and patiently for her to tell him how his Poliwag was doing.

"I have both good news and bad news for you, young man," Nurse Joy declared the moment she saw that she had his complete attention. "Which one would you like to hear first?"

"The good, please."

The pink haired medical professional smiled at him before she stated, "The good news is that your Poliwag is going to be just fine; he just needs a bit of rest and lots of T.L.C. from you. I'd still like to keep him overnight so that I can monitor his condition in case I missed anything though."

Harry expelled the breath he'd been holding in a big whoosh as the slight concern he'd been feeling about the state of his new Pokémon melted away. There had been a lot of blood earlier.

Nurse Joy gave him another smile in response to his reaction before she added, "The bad news, I'm afraid, is that I was unable to heal the damage that had been done to your Poliwag's left eye."

"How badly was his eye damaged?" Harry asked as he felt a wave of icy cold numbness wrap around him.

"Pretty bad; his eye had been ruptured by a direct blow to the eye and I was forced to remove it completely."

"Luna-dear, are you sure I can't…?" Harry started to demand as he half turned to the petite blonde that had followed him across the room.

"You already know the answer to that, Harry."

"Damn it," Harry reflexively cursed without any heat; the mild invective meaningless without his negative emotions to give it color and depth. He reached up to pull off his glasses so he could rub the bridge of his nose for a moment before he ran his hand through his hair and returned his attention to Nurse Joy to ask, "Can I see him now?"

"He's still sleeping of the anesthetic I used to knock him out for the surgery but I will allow you to sit with him once you've cleaned yourself up."

Harry glanced down the dried blood that stained his hands as if seeing it for the first time before he absently nodded and replied, "Of course, I'll be back in ten minutes tops."

"I'll wait here for you," Nurse Joy promised as she gently turned him around and gave him a little push towards the lifts that would take him upstairs.

Harry had barely taken three steps in that direction before he found himself bracketed by Luna, Dudley, and Daisy in a show of silent support. No words needed to be said as they all crowded into the elevator and rode it up to the third floor where their rooms were located. Before Harry could make an attempt to unlock the room he shared with his cousin, the slightly older boy sent him off to take a shower with a promise that he'd grab a change of clothes for Harry. The only reason he didn't protest was due to the fact that Dudley's offer would save him a good minute or two.

Nine minutes and forty-seven seconds later, Harry returned to the lobby alone with damp hair, a pocket crammed full of Berry Cakes, and a small bloodstain budding on the knee of his left pant leg at the same time as Officer Jenny was bidding Nurse Joy good day. Nurse Joy immediately caught sight of him as the blue haired officer headed for the exit and she beckoned him to follow her as she led him into the clinic. She eventually stopped outside of a private room and told him that he was welcome to stay until supper time before she disappeared back in the direction of the lobby.

Letting out a soft sigh, Harry let himself into the Poliwag's room and closed the door behind him before he made his way over to the chair that was sitting beside the unconscious Pokémon's bed. He would crash just a couple of minutes later as the exhaustion he felt from his earlier mad dash across the village finally got the best of him. Harry was so out of it that he never even noticed when Nurse Joy's Chansey snuck into the room to check on his Poliwag. Nor did he notice when the soft-hearted Pokémon discovered and treated his minor injuries thanks to the semi-fresh blood on his clean pants.

* * *

**Notes:**

* PokéDex Entry for Poliwag used in the chapter was based off of the PokéDex Entry from the Pokémon Red and Blue games; I only changed one word in the second sentence in order to make the sentence read a little smoother – I replaced the word 'than' with the word 'over'.

Pokémon Witnesses – yes, I know Pokémon were used as key witnesses in the anime/manga at times but I felt that using that plot device was a cheat since all you'd have to do is train a Pokémon to 'finger' certain people and then they'd get taken down lickety-split. It would also be too easy to corrupt some of the less intelligent Pokémon and trick them into accusing the wrong person. Psychics and Psychic Pokémon could potentially be used but that won't be a viable method until later in the story.

Pokémon Parties (M = Male, F = Female, G = Genderless)

Daisy: (Trainer ID # 062441DO)

Charm – F Charmander (lvl 18)  
Name TBA – M Pikachu (lvl 7)

Dudley: (Trainer ID # 062444DD)

Keys – G Klefki (lvl 33)  
Rex – M Totodile (lvl 21)  
Chip – M Mankey (lvl 13)

Luna: (Trainer ID # 062443LL)

Nargle – F Natu (lvl 50)  
Spork – M Spoink (lvl 32)  
Snuggles – M Chikorita (lvl 19)

Harry: (Researcher ID# 0018708HP, Trainer ID # 062442HP)

Moony – M Absol (lvl 51)  
Gryffin – M Litleo (lvl 34)  
Trouble – F Misdreavus (lvl 50)  
Phoenix (Nix) – M Cyndaquil (lvl 20)  
Name TBA – M Poliwag (lvl 24)

* * *

**AN:** _Blah, blah, blah…_


	21. A Pokémon's Worth

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this one-shot goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

**CHAPTER WARNING:**_ This chapter contains mentions of animal cruelty._

* * *

Chapter Twenty: A Pokémon's Worth

_April 13, 2031  
Pokémon Center, Pewter City  
Kanto Region_

Harry was half sprawled on Poliwag's hospital bed, half seated on his chair and still sleeping late in the afternoon when his new Poliwag regained consciousness. He would be jolted awake just four seconds later when the Pokémon let out a sharp cry of dismay right next to his ear. Jerking upright and trying to expel the grogginess from his mind, Harry let his eyes search the darkened room to find the source of the sound that had woken him. The instant his green gaze landed on the weeping Poliwag laying on the bed beside him, Harry abruptly remembered where he was and why he was there.

"_Shh, shh; don't cry, buddy, you're safe now._"

"_But I can't see out of my left eye anymore and now I'm even more useless than I was before!_" the Poliwag distraughtly exclaimed as his tail slid out from under the sheet draped over him and covered his face.

"_You were never useless; you were just stuck with a useless Trainer that didn't know how to train you properly,_" Harry countered firmly as he dug into his pocket to retrieve one of the Berry Cakes he'd brought down to the Clinic with him, tore a bite sized chunk from the corner, moved the Poliwag's tail out of the way, and offered the bite to the Pokémon.

The Poliwag hesitated for a second before he carefully ate the cake right out of Harry's hand. The half blind creature let out a surprised hum of pleasure in response to the delicious taste of the proffered morsel and he happily accepted the rest of cake without any hesitation one bite at a time. By the time the Poliwag swallowed the last bite, he was far calmer than he had been when he'd first woken up and Harry was very pleased (and slightly surprised) by the trust the abused Pokémon was showing him.

"_You caught me,_" the Poliwag quietly stated after the two of them had sat in a near companionable silence for several minutes while his belly had gurgled contentedly as it happily digested the Berry Cake.

"_I did; it wasn't what I planned to do when I rushed over to help you but I don't regret it._"

"_You're a Trainer._"

"_Yes,_" Harry agreed with a trace of bemusement; he'd thought that that was rather obvious since he _had_ recaptured the released Poliwag.

"_You're a Trainer,_" the Poliwag repeated as he levered himself up into a seated position and turned so that his only eye was fully facing Harry. "_You're a Trainer; a human. Yet you can understand me when I speak and when you speak to me, you sound like another Poliwag but you're not a Poliwag._"

"_Ah, I see why you're so confused now. Yes, I'm definitely human and yes, I can speak to all Pokémon in the Pokémon Language; for some strange reason when I speak the Pokémon Language, I always sound like a Pokémon of the same species as the Pokémon that I'm talking to at the time. I don't really know why that is though and I can't really control what I sound like unless I'm focusing on speaking human when there are humans around that don't know I can speak to Pokémon._"

The Poliwag blinked at him a couple of times before he did a strange little body roll-bob that Harry thought might be the Poliwag equivalent of a nod; it wasn't like the ball-like Pokémon had a neck he could bend to nod. Come to think of it, the little guy didn't even have arms; which made Harry wonder how he'd pulled the bandages that had been covering his missing left eye off of his head. Though, he supposed the bandages could have been knocked off while the Pokémon had been unconscious.

"_Why did you catch me?_"

"_It was the only way to get you the help you needed and I wasn't about to let you die._"

"_Does that mean your going to get rid of me now that I don't need help any more?_"

"_No, I have no plans to throw you away. However, I'd also never force you to stay if you didn't want to. I may not have had any plans to add another Pokémon partner to my team yet but I'm still very glad to have you as part of my team._"

"_Why…? I'm useless! I've never won a single battle!_"

"_There's no such thing as a useless Pokémon; only useless Trainers that are too blinded by their own superiority to see what's right in front of their faces,_" Harry insisted as he reached out to rub the Poliwag on the head. "_And I bet you'll be winning battles left and right once you've fully recovered and we've had a chance to get you properly trained up._"

Poliwag's only remaining eye widened in shock over the blind faith Harry had just shown in him and Harry quickly pulled out another Berry Cake when he saw the Pokémon tearing up. The distraction worked brilliantly and the Poliwag happily scarfed down the delicious treat. Harry was especially pleased that his new partner wasn't any where near as hung up on returning to his former Trainer as he had originally appeared to be when they'd first met. To prevent the one-eyed Pokémon from falling back into depression, Harry initiated a subtle interrogation to learn more about the Poliwag.

"_I already know that you're at Level Twenty-Four but how old are you in human terms?_"

"_Two months._"

"_How did you get to Level Twenty-Four so quickly when you're still so young?_"

"_After I was given to my former Trainer, he fed me a bunch of little candies that boosted my Experience and the more of them I ate, the higher my Level rose._"

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion, he'd never heard of candies that could raise a Pokémon's Level when eaten. That was the kind of thing that he thought for sure Professor Oak or Daisy would have told him about when he'd first been learning about Battle Experience, Pokémon Levels, and Training Aides. He pushed his confusion aside a moment later and refocused his attention on his Poliwag in order to see if he could get more information.

"_When did he give you those?_"

"_Yesterday._"

Harry liked his Poliwag's former Trainer even less upon hearing that. He also didn't like the sounds of those candies; it wasn't right to force a baby Pokémon to grow up in a single day. It almost sounded like the bully had thought that a higher Level equaled more Power when what really made a Pokémon more powerful was Leveling Up as they gained Experience through Battling and Training. Gaining Levels or Experience with some kind of drug was just cheating and would most likely leave the Pokémon as helpless as a newborn babe no matter what Level they reached.

"_Did he train you at all before he made you fight a Gym Battle?_"

The Poliwag shook his whole body from side to side and Harry once again wished he could feel anger. What kind of idiot didn't bother to train their Pokémon before they used it in a Battle? No wonder the poor Pokémon had lost every Battle he had been in; he didn't know how to fight properly! At least his inability to feel negative emotions meant that he couldn't frighten his knew partner with a show of anger.

"_How many other Battles did he have you fight in before he used you in a Gym Battle?_"

"_None._"

Yep, that Tyson guy was a first class idiot on top of being a horrible bully. Harry really hoped that Officer Jenny could find the proof she needed to put the jerk away for the rest of his life.

Returning his thoughts to the conversation at hand, Harry asked, "_What Pokémon Moves do you know?_"

"_**Water Sport**__, __**Bubble**__, and __**Water Gun**__._"

Harry took a moment to look up all three Moves on his PokéDex and wasn't really surprised to learn that all three Moves were rather weak. **Water Sport** was a Status Attack that lowered the power of Fire Type Moves. Both **Water Gun** and **Bubble** were low level Water Type Moves with a forty-percent power rating. All three Moves were also more commonly used by lower Leveled Pokémon and as a Level Twenty-Four Pokémon, his Poliwag should have known at least one higher level Attack.

Instead of pointing that out to his Poliwag, Harry went through the list of Moves that Poliwags were capable of learning with the one-eyed Tadpole Pokémon to find out which Moves he'd like to learn once he had fully recovered. The mere fact that Harry actually _wanted_ to train him, pleased the Poliwag to no end; the Water Type Pokémon displaying the same childishness that he'd seen in the baby Pokémon he'd interacted with at Prof. Oak's Lab and in the group's Starter Pokémon when they'd first obtained them.

Talk of his Poliwag's future training soon gave way to talk about the training he'd given to his other Pokémon and that in turn led to him introducing the Poliwag to Phoenix. Harry had chosen his Cyndaquil as the first Pokémon to introduce his new Pokémon to because he was the youngest, had the lowest Level, and he was the only other Pokémon officially listed as part of his Pokémon Party. The only drawback to introducing 'Nix was that the Fire Mouse Pokémon was a Fire Type and Fire Types did not get along all that well with Water Types.

He needn't have worried; Phoenix did not have an overly aggressive nature and he had been keeping track of everything that had happened while he'd been in his PokéBall. It helped that the Poliwag had been born with a Friendly Nature and was mentally young enough (despite his forced growth) to accept Phoenix's companionship. It would probably take time before they could be considered bosom friends, there was _some_ mistrust inherent between them due to their base types, but they at least wouldn't be bickering constantly like Rex and Chip.

Harry had just split the third and final Berry Cake that he'd brought with him in half and given one side to Phoenix (he planned to feed the other side to the Poliwag) when Nurse Joy entered the room with her Chansey on her heels; the large pink Pokémon pushing a multi-shelved cart filled with covered dishes.

"Oh, good, you're both awake!" Nurse Joy happily exclaimed the moment she saw them. "I was starting to think that you both would sleep all through the night and worried that you would miss supper after you had already missed lunch."

"Sorry, ma'am; I didn't know I was that tired."

"Just don't do it again, young man; it's not healthy to skip meals!"

"I'll try not to," Harry hastily promised; he knew it was far safer for his dignity to obey healer type persons than it was to stubbornly ignore their orders and end up tied to a bed for a month or two.

"See that you do!" Nurse Joy insisted as she plucked one of the covered dishes from Chansey's cart and gently but firmly thrust it into Harry's hands. "And you'd best eat every last bite on your plate, mister."

"I will!"

The pink haired woman eyed him for a moment to make certain he was being truthful before she turned to the bed to inspect the two Pokémon that were sitting on it. The moment she noticed that the bandages over the Poliwag's empty left eye socket had fallen off, she tutted under her breath and set about replacing it with a new one. Harry watched as she first smeared an antibiotic paste over the gaping wound before she taped a patch of gauze over the eye socket and secured it in place with another bandage.

Once that was done, she grabbed a second plate from Chansey's cart, removed the lid, and set it on the bed in front of Harry's Poliwag as she sternly stated, "I expect you to eat every single morsel on that plate as well."

The one-eyed Poliwag blinked his lone eye at her before he did his little whole-body roll-bob-nod thing and dug into the Pokémon food he'd been provided. Nurse Joy also handed a plate of food to Phoenix before she reminded Harry, who'd been bemusedly watching her interact with his new Pokémon, to eat because she wasn't letting him leave until he ate. Harry complied without further delay and therefore missed the triumphant smirk that the formidable, if kindly, nurse was wearing on her face as she withdrew from the room in order to deliver supper to the rest of her patients.

After he'd finished the last bite of the lovely casserole he'd been given, Harry got to spend another twenty minutes with his Poliwag before Nurse Joy returned to collect their dirty dishes and announced, "Visiting hours are officially over now, young man; so, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I guess that means I'll see you in the morning, Poliwag," Harry carefully informed his new Pokémon as he concentrated on speaking human due to Nurse Joy's presence.

"_You're leaving me?_" Poliwag asked in a wobbly tone that made the Pokémon sound like he was on the verge of crying.

"I'll be back first thing in the morning," Harry promised as he rose to his feet, collected Phoenix from the bed, and took two steps towards the door.

"_Please don't leave me!_"

Harry froze in his tracks in response to the heartfelt plea his Poliwag had just made. Those were the same exact words that the Poliwag had cried to his former Trainer. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the one-eyed Pokémon feared that Harry was going to abandon him just like his other Trainer had. And Harry just couldn't bring himself to walk away from his new Pokémon when he knew it would break his Pokémon's heart a second time. It didn't matter that _he_ knew he would be back; his Pokémon didn't know that and his fragile trust already broken once by a cruel human.

"Nurse Joy, is there anyway I can talk you into allowing me to take him up to my room with me?" Harry inquired as he turned soulful green eyes on the Pokémon healer. "The jerk who was his last Trainer cruelly abandoned him earlier today and I don't ever want him to think that I'm going to abandon him too but if I walk away from him right now, that's what he's going to believe."

Nurse Joy pursed her lips in response to his request and glanced between him and his Pokémon several times before she answered, "Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to tell you no but in this case I think it might do more harm than good to separate the two of you. The fact that I know you'll be spending the night at the Pokémon Center again tonight also makes it easier for me to grant your request."

"Thank you!" Harry earnestly replied as he spun on his heel and hurried back to his Poliwag's bedside while shifting Phoenix up onto his shoulder to free his hands.

"Not so fast, young man!" Nurse Joy insisted before Harry could pick his Pokémon up. "If I'm going to allow you to take him with you for the night, then you are not to return him to his PokéBall until I give you the okay and you'll need to bring him down to see me first thing in the morning so that I can check on him."

"That won't be a problem."

"I also want you to bring him straight back down here if he shows any signs of being in pain or if he starts bleeding from his left eye socket."

"I will."

"Good, now be off with you so that I can lock down the clinic for the evening."

"Yes, ma'am!" Harry stated as he resisted the urge he felt to snap his heels together, throw his shoulders back, and offer the woman a military salute.

He then carefully collected his Poliwag from the bed and cradled him in his arms before he walked steadily out of the room so he wouldn't jostle his Pokémon unnecessarily. He'd barely cleared the room when his Poliwag snuggled closer to his chest with a contented hum, loosely wrapped his fin-like tail around Harry's left arm, and murmured, "_Thank you for not leaving me._"

Phoenix leaned down from his perch on Harry's shoulder so that he could meet Poliwag's one-eyed gaze as he fervently swore, "_Harry would never abandon any of us; he cares about us too much._"

"_My friends are far too important to me for me to ever walk away from them when they need me,_" Harry stated in a low voice that wouldn't carry.

The Poliwag's cheeks turned a faint purplish-pink as the Pokémon blushed in response to Harry strongly implying that he already considered the Poliwag as a friend even though they'd barely known one another for a day. Harry thought his reaction boded well for their growing Trainer-Pokémon bond and hoped that meant that there would be fewer trust issues between the two of them. A small part of him had been prepared for the Poliwag to either resent him for capturing him or mistrust him to the point where he'd refuse to listen to him as a Trainer due to what his last Trainer had done.

As he and his Pokémon entered the lobby, Harry wondered if his Poliwag's willingness to trust him was due to the fact that he still retained a rather childish mindset despite the rapid Leveling Up he'd been forced through or if it was simply because Harry could communicate with him on a far deeper level than any other human. That line of thinking had his thoughts turning to Prof. Oak as he wondered again why the venerable Researcher hadn't once mentioned those candies that the idiot Trainer had fed the Poliwag to raise his Level.

When the public phones entered his line of sight, Harry made a snap decision to call the man right then and there and ask him about the candies. It would take some careful juggling for him to place the call (he hadn't wanted to set his Poliwag on the floor and he worried the Water Pokémon would fall off his shoulder since he didn't have hands to hold onto him) but he managed it with a little help from 'Nix.

"_Hello! I'm the great and powerful future Pokémon Master, Gary Oak; who are you?_"

Harry snickered and shook his head in response to the five year old's greeting before he replied, "Hi Gary, it's Harry; is Gramps at home or is he still at the Lab?"

"_He's in the kitchen, I'll get him for you,_" Gary replied before the phone made a loud clacking sound as Gary set the phone on the table. He then clearly heard the younger boy's voice yell, "_GRAMPS! Telephone! It's Harry!_"

Harry would then be left hanging for several minutes before Prof. Oak finally picked the phone up off the table and inquired, "_Hello? Harry? Are you still there?_"

"Yeah, I'm still here. I didn't pull you away from your supper did I?"

"_No, we'd finished eating a little while ago; I was just in the middle of washing the dishes or I would have gotten to the phone sooner._"

"Sorry about that, I didn't even think about what time it was when I saw the phones and had to call you."

"_It's fine; you're welcome to call me any time you need to talk to me no matter what time it is,_" Prof. Oak firmly assured the former wizard.

"Thanks, Gramps."

There was a split second of stunned silence that he didn't notice before Prof. Oak replied, "_You're welcome, Harry. Now that we've settled that, what did you need?_"

Harry glanced down at the Poliwag that was now lightly dozing in the crook of his left arm before he glanced around the lobby to see if anyone was listening into his conversation. As soon as he established that he had as much privacy as he could hope for in such a public place, Harry finally answered, "Did one of the others tell you about what happened this morning when we were on our way to the Gym?"

"_Yes, Daisy called me just before lunch and informed me that the four of you had rescued an abused Poliwag. She also told me that the Poliwag had lost an eye but would otherwise make a full recovery._"

"That sounds about right; I've actually got him with me right now. Nurse Joy wanted to keep him in the clinic for the night so she could keep an eye on him but he didn't want me to leave him behind so I talked her into letting me take him with me instead."

"_I take he's fully accepted you as his new Trainer than?_"

"I think so; he hasn't shown any indications that he's going to reject me, at least."

"_That's good news; all too often abused Pokémon will have far too hard a time trusting another Trainer. Did you get a chance to sit down and speak with the little guy at all yet?_"

"Yeah, that's why I needed to call you. Have you ever heard of a candy that raises a Pokémon's Level when eaten?"

"_No, I can't say that I have. Why do you ask?_"

"My Poliwag is only two months old and he was only given to his last Trainer yesterday. Instead of training him up, the guy fed him a bunch of candies that forced him to Level Up in a very short period of time and then used him in a Gym Battle that he lost because he didn't have any proper Battle Experience or higher level Moves."

"_In small doses, such an item would potentially be beneficial._"

"Maybe… but I don't think the candies are really all that good for the Pokémon."

"_Why do you say that?_"

"Do you remember that discussion we had on Pokémon Levels versus their age in human years and how both affected a Pokémon's mental maturity?"

"_Yes._"

"Well, the Poliwag sounds just as mature as a normal Level Twenty-Four Pokémon but he still has the mentality of a baby Pokémon. His behavior reminds me a lot of the three Starter Pokémon that you had me raising over the last few months. So, he's basically an overpowered baby that can't protect himself. He's also had quite a few mood swings but that could just be from the stress he's been under and the fact that he recently lost an eye."

"_Oh, my; I can see why you would be worried._"

"Well, as worried as I can be given that I can't actually feel true worry."

"_Yes, well the fact that you can recognize that you __**should**__ feel worried about the health of your new Pokémon is a clear indication that you are aware of your limitations and that you take them serious; even if you don't feel the pressing need to do so by the emotions you no longer feel._"

Harry had to stop and think that statement through before he stated, "True. It helps that I have Luna, Dudley, and Daisy to help me think things through."

"_Yes, having friends that you can trust is very important._"

"Having a trustworthy adult I can go to that's also willing to hear me out helps too. I never would've stopped to think about things like a Pokémon's mental maturity if it wasn't for all of those experiments that you had me help you with."

"_I'm flattered that you trust me that much, Harry,_" Prof. Oak replied and Harry could practically hear the man blushing through the phone. After a brief moment of what could only be embarrassed silence from the other end of the phone, Prof. Oak inquired, "_What are your plans for your new Pokémon?_"

"As soon as Nurse Joys gives me the all clear, I'm going to start training him to see if proper Experience will help him. I think a few proper Battles against some low Level Wild Pokémon will help boost his confidence too. I don't dare use him in a Trainer Battle until he's confident in his own abilities because a loss will only make things worse at this point. He thinks he's useless because he lost the only Battle he ever fought in and because he's half blind now."

"_That sounds like a reasonable plan. Will you be documenting his training?_"

"I hadn't really thought about it but I probably will so that I can keep track of any progress he makes."

"_I would highly recommend that you do. I also suggest that you speak to Professor Westwood the Fifth about your Poliwag's behavior since Pokémon Behaviors is his field of expertise. He might be able to determine if your Poliwag has any other behavioral issues that were induced by the rapid growth aside from the stunted mental maturity you noted._"

"Have you spoken to him about me yet?"

"_No, he hasn't returned my call yet. I expect that I'll hear from sometime soon though. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I hear from him so that you can expect his call._"

"Okay."

"_Oh, and don't forget to ask Nurse Joy to provide you with an official copy of his medical file in case those candies you mentioned caused any physical problems._"

"I'll ask her for one first thing tomorrow morning when I bring my Poliwag back to the clinic for another check-up."

"_Please ask her to fax a copy to me at my lab as well; I'd like to look it over and compare it to similar medical reports I have on the Poliwags that I've worked with over the years to see if there's anything off._"

"I can do that. I'll also stop by the Police Station and get you a copy of the police report and any police sketches they made of the bullies so you'll know who to keep an eye out for in case they ever show up in Pallet Town."

"_Ah, good thinking. That will also allow me to forward their description to my fellow Pokémon Professors that are authorized to distribute Starter Pokémon to new Trainers. Was there anything else you needed to tell me?_"

"No, I don't think so."

"_Then I'll let you go so you can get some rest; you sound exhausted._"

Harry let out a quiet laugh that held no humor; he felt exhausted even though he'd slept for at least six hours. Shaking away the odd mood that had settled over him, Harry refocused his attention on the phone as he replied, "Okay, thanks for listening."

"_You're welcome, Harry. Now go get some rest! And don't hesitate to call me if you need anything else._"

"I will… and I won't. Goodnight, Gramps," Harry offered without registering the fact that that was the third time he'd called Prof. Oak 'Gramps' without realizing it; the ten year old had picked up using that particular title due to how much time he'd spent with Daisy since he'd arrived in this world (especially over the past few weeks) and he was distracted enough not to censor his mouth for once.

"_Goodnight, Harry._"

Harry hung up the phone at that point and made his way across the lobby so he could head upstairs. He was far from the only person calling it a night though and the moment he noticed the crowd standing in front of the lifts, Harry decided to take the stairs up instead. As the door to the stairwell swung shut behind him, the lift door opened and disgorged the five teens he'd just been discussing with Prof. Oak though Harry would never know how close he came to running into them a second time that day.

That was probably a good thing though; Harry was still very displeased with the quintet and if he had seen them, then he might have done something stupid and Gryffindorish – like challenge them to a Battle. There was also the possibility that they might have recognized the Poliwag in Harry's arms and eventually figure out that it had been Harry (and the others) that had snitched on them about what Tyson had done to the Tadpole Pokémon.

Harry never bothered to look back though and he steadily climbed up the stairs without ever realizing just how close he'd been to coming face to face with the teen that had made him wish he could still feel anger.

When he reached the neighboring rooms that he and the others were sharing, Harry hesitated as he tried to decide if he should knock on the girls' door to see if everyone was in that room or if he should check the room he was sharing with Dudley first. He then froze as he realized that he didn't even know if the others were upstairs or if they'd been down in the cafeteria getting supper; he hadn't even bothered to look for them! He was just turning around with the vague idea that he needed to search downstairs for the others when the door to his and Dudley's room opened without warning.

"There you are! Finally! We were starting to get worried about you!" Dudley exclaimed in relief as he grabbed Harry's unoccupied arm and pulled him inside the room. "We were expecting you back ages ago!"

"Sorry, I fell asleep while I was visiting my new Poliwag," Harry replied as he freed his arm from his cousin's grip and gestured to the still sleeping Pokémon in his arms.

"Oh, you brought him with you! I didn't think Nurse Joy was going to release him tonight after how badly he'd been injured," Daisy commented as she stood up from Dudley's bed in order to get a closer look at the Poliwag.

"She wasn't going to, not at first, but the moment she tried to kick me out of his room, he begged me not to leave him behind," Harry explained as he took a seat on his bed beside Luna since the floor was once again mostly occupied by Pokémon. "I just couldn't help comparing my walking away from him to his last Trainer walking away from him and there was no way I was going to torment him by leaving him after that. Nurse Joy only made me promise to bring him to see her first thing in the morning before she allowed it."

"Ouch," Dudley sympathized around a wince.

"Is he actually starting to trust you or is he just clinging to you because you were the one that saved him?" Daisy gently inquired as she ran a finger over the Pokémon's tail where it was still tightly wrapped around Harry's left arm. "I mean, there's no telling how long he'd been with that… jerk and it's really odd that he accepted you so quickly when he had been so desperate to chase after the jerk this morning."

"That guy only had him for a single day," Harry corrected as he glanced down at the Pokémon in his arms. "He never even bothered to train the Poliwag at all and the Gym Battle he used him in this morning was the Poliwag's first and only Battle. On top of that, the Poliwag told me that the stupid jerk fed him a bunch of candies that forced him to Level Up instead of getting him to Level Up through proper training."

"What? That's… I've never heard of anything like that!" Daisy quietly exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, neither had Professor Oak when I called him to ask him about them just before I came up to our rooms. That isn't the worst part though. The candies didn't give the Poliwag any fighting experience, didn't teach him any new moves, and left him with the mental maturity of a baby Pokémon despite the fact that his level of speech is comparable to the speech of any other Pokémon at his Level. Oh, and he's only two months old in human years."

"What Level did you say he's at?" Dudley asked with a slight frown on his face.

"Twenty-Four, so, I figure that he had to be around Level Five or Six when he was given to his last Trainer and that he was forced to jump up nearly twenty full Levels in a single day, or possibly in just a single hour, without any training whatsoever."

"That's… that's terrible! Who would do such a thing? Have you told Officer Jenny?"

"No, the only one I told was Professor Oak. I didn't even tell Nurse Joy. The only proof we have that the creep did such a thing is the word of a Pokémon and if I tried to tell Officer Jenny, then she'd want to know how I know."

"Can't you just tell her that you can talk to the Pokémon?"

"No, it's far too soon for Harry to reveal his ability to speak PokéTongue to anyone outside of the professors; he needs to make a name for himself before the rest of the world learns just how special he is," Luna calmly answered in Harry's place. "He'll also need a full team with him when he does; or it will be that much harder for him to defend himself from those that will seek to use him or kill him to keep him from being used by any one else."

"So, we're just going to let that jerk get away with what he did?"

"Of course not, we just have to set him up to make another mistake in front of a witness with the proper authority to deal with him."

"How are we going to do that, Luna?" Dudley wondered as a frown crinkled his brow.

"We'll know when the time is right," Luna airily chanted in a knowing tone that had both boys sighing as they quickly realized that Luna had _seen_ something that she couldn't share with them lest it change the desired outcome.

"So, are we heading back to the Pokémon Gym tomorrow to register?" Harry asked in order to change the subject.

"Er, we did that while you were visiting your Poliwag," Dudley sheepishly admitted. "My Challenge is scheduled to start at nine tomorrow morning because someone withdrew their Challenge at the last minute and the girls are both scheduled to take their Challenges on the seventeenth. We tried to register you as well but the Gym Official who was handling the registrations said that you had to do it yourself because you have to have your Pokémon on hand when you do."

"Oh, that's okay, I'll just register tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing how 'Nix does in a real Battle after all of the training we did in the forest."

"Er, Harry; you might want to rethink using Phoenix in the Gym Challenge," Dudley suggested as he exchanged a look with both girls.

"What? Why? I know Fire Types aren't the ideal type to fight again Rock Types but it is possible for a Fire Type to win against a Rock Type if the Trainer knows what they're doing."

"That's just it; we won't be facing off against many, if any, Rock Type Pokémon during the Gym Challenge. There was a change in leadership last year and the new Gym Leader prefers using Water Type Pokémon instead. There's still a couple of Rock Trainers that are apprentices to the Gym but the chances of all of us facing even one of them during our Challenges is rather low."

"Oh, that's not good. I built my entire strategy for our first Gym Challenge around us facing off against Rock Pokémon."

"Phoenix isn't the only Pokémon you have in your Party," Luna reminded Harry in her usual dreamy tone.

"I know that but my new Poliwag is going to need lots of training before I even think about asking him to face another Gym Battle."

"You will have plenty of time to give him all the training he will need."

"Well, I guest that means that's settled then."

The four of them would spend another half an hour going over the changes they would need to make to their plans for the next few days in order to work around their scheduled Gym Battles. At the end of that half an hour, the girls would head off to their room for the night while the two boys got ready for bed. The Poliwag would briefly wake up in a panic when Harry set him down on the bed and gently pried his tail off his arm but he quickly settled down the moment Harry assured him that he wasn't being left behind.

The last two things Harry did before he crawled into bed was to introduce his Poliwag to the rest of his Pokémon and to order Trouble not to show herself to anyone if she went out searching for someone to scare; he didn't want to risk her being seen by Tyson and his gang of thugs now that he knew the jerks were still in town.

* * *

**Notes:**

Rare Candies – I originally planned to ignore Rare Candies altogether because they're basically a cheat to force your Pokémon to level up faster (game – and rather useful in a pinch if you hoard them) or an experimental item that made a Pokémon larger/stronger (anime) but as I was writing this chapter, I came up with the idea that they were an invention of Team Rocket and that they used to them to force Pokémon to level up quickly (and the reason why Trainers occasionally find them lying around is because a Rocket Grunt dropped it). It really sounds like something Team Rocket would do in order to get stronger Pokémon faster.

* * *

**AN:** _Okay, this is the last chapter for this weekend. I'll be posting the rest of this partial arc next weekend since that will give me time to clean up the next two/three chapters before I post them. Next chapter will also have some battling in it._

_Hmm... not sure if there was anything else I wanted to say here. I just woke up and I'm not quite awake yet. In any case, I hope you've enjoyed the three chapters I posted this weekend (chap 20 was up yesterday even if it didn't show on FFN due to the fact that I posted it in under 24 hrs after posting chap 19). Thanks again for reading and for all of the reviews and alerts! ~ Jenn_


	22. A Gym Challenged

**Disclaimer:** _All HP characters are the property of JKR, the WB, and respective publishing companies. All portions of the Pokémon universe/worlds/characters are the property of The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and GAME FREAK Inc. This story is nothing more than a simple FanFiction that I have written for my own enjoyment. I have made no money from this or any of the other stories I have posted on this or other sites._

**Warnings:** _Mild to moderate violence, character death, character bashing (all Weasleys &amp; Hermione), alternate universe (i.e. kiss canon goodbye), OCC behaviors and personalities, and who knows what else._

**AN1:** _The credit for the Story Prompt/Challenge used to create this story goes to the Guru of Challenges; Challenge King since he was the one that inspired this plot bunny and helped revive my Pokémon-hybrid muse. See the first author's note at the top of the first chapter (prologue) for details._

**AN2:** _This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance._

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: A Gym Challenged

_April 14, 2031  
Pokémon Center, Pewter City  
Kanto Region_

Harry would wake up the next morning feeling half frozen; sleeping curled up with a slightly damp Water Pokémon whose inner temperature ran slightly on the cold side was not the brightest thing he'd ever done. Not that he'd ever let his Poliwag know how much discomfort he felt with him snuggled up against his chest. He wasn't about to make the poor creature feel terrible about seeking comfort. He'd just have to remember to place a blanket or a pillow between them as a buffer the next time he slept with him.

Sliding out of bed, Harry shivered and hurried changed into a clean set of clothes (doubling up on shirts) before he donned his scarf and his jacket in an attempt to warm himself up. Phoenix would curl up inside of his jacket a moment later and Harry dropped a kiss on his Cyndaquil's head the moment he felt the Fire Pokémon's blessed warmth seeping into his chest. He would have loved to ask Gryffin to curl around his neck like a second scarf but he didn't want to take a chance that the bully gang might see them if they were still running around loose; Luna's warnings were meant to be taken seriously.

Once dressed, he fed all of his Pokémon before he returned Moony, Trouble, and Gryffin to their PokéBalls and collected his Poliwag before he headed down to the lobby so that he could keep his promise to Nurse Joy. He would end up sitting around for roughly twenty minutes due to another group of Trainers checking into the Pokémon Center for the week. Harry wasn't too bothered by the wait as it allowed him to curl up in a chair and soak up the heat that Phoenix was radiating. It also gave him time to observe those entering and exiting the Center and scan the room for any signs of Tyson and his flock of bullies.

By the time Nurse Joy gestured for him to join her, Harry had grown bored of people watching and had thankfully not seen hide nor hair of the 'red letter thugs' (as he had dubbed them in his mind). After they exchanged a brief greeting, Nurse Joy led Harry and his Pokémon to an examination room where she had him set his Poliwag on a table so she could run a few scans on him. It was a familiar process for Harry; he'd seen Prof. Oak perform numerous such scans on many of the Pokémon that lived at the Lab.

The scans didn't take long to perform and while the various machines and computer analyzed the data the scans had collected, Nurse Joy removed the bandages from around the Poliwag's left eye so she could inspect the empty socket for any signs of infection or bleeding. The entire time the woman worked, the Tadpole Pokémon kept his sole remaining eye locked on Harry as the pre-teen patiently watched from beside the door and Harry wondered if his Water Pokémon still feared that Harry was going to walk off and leave him.

"All right, young man; please come over here," Nurse Joy requested once she'd finished and Harry didn't hesitate to comply. "I'm going to teach you how to tend your Poliwag's empty eye socket while it's still healing and show you what you need to keep watch for each time you change his bandages."

What followed was a thirteen minute lecture that used the Poliwag and several large, glossy photos of other Pokémon that had lost an eye as props. Some of those pictures were rather gross but Harry had seen far worse during the years he'd lived in the Wizarding World – especially during the year he'd spent on the run hunting horcruxes. At the end of the lesson, Nurse Joy supervised Harry's first attempt at bandaging his Poliwag's empty socket; which he had no problems with since he had helped Prof. Oak take care of a few injured Pokémon at the Lab on a couple of occasions.

"Very good, young man," Nurse Joy praised once he had finished. "You'll need to make certain you change the bandage at least once a day and, because your Poliwag is a Water Pokémon, whenever it gets wet. You'll also need to not let him fully submerge himself in water until the scab lining the socket falls out on its own. In the event that he does dive underwater before that happens, then you'll need to let his eye socket dry out before you replace the bandage and smear it with the healing cream in order to prevent it from mildewing or becoming infected."

"Okay, we'll be extra careful," Harry promised as he made a mental note to pick up some sponges that he could use to keep the skin around his Poliwag's empty eye socket moist (so his Pokémon wouldn't feel the need to submerge himself to relieve the dryness) while the socket finished healing. His Pokémon echoed his promise a moment later as he gave Nurse Joy another one of those whole-body roll-bob-nod things. Harry lightly patted his Poliwag on the head before he asked, "How much longer do I have to avoid returning him to his PokéBall?"

"You can return him now, if you wish; just make certain you let him out for around an hour at least three times a day."

"That won't be a problem. How long will I need to wait before I can start training my Poliwag?"

"You aren't planning to start battling with him before his left eye socket fully heals, are you?"

"No! No, I would never push any of my Pokémon like that. I only asked about training because he's going to need to learn how to compensate for the eye he lost."

"In that case, you may start him on a light training routine the day after tomorrow but you're not to allow him to pit him against another Pokémon until after his eye socket is fully healed; one stray blow to his empty socket before then could put his recovery back weeks!"

"That won't be a problem. I fully plan to limit his training to no more than an hour or two a day until you clear him for more strenuous training and I'll bring him to you for a check up after each training session for as long as we're still in Pewter City," Harry stated without any hesitation.

"How much longer do you plan to stay in Pewter?"

"At least until the eighteenth or nineteenth. After that, we plan to head to Mt. Moon and we'll probably come back here once we're done at Mt. Moon."

"Good, that gives me plenty of time to monitor his health during the first few days of training."

"Does that mean we're done now?"

"Yes, the two of you are free to go."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy. Oh, and before I forget; I spoke to Professor Oak last night and he asked me to ask you to fax him a copy of my Poliwag's medical file. I'd also like to have a copy for my records too."

"Would you prefer a hard copy or an electronic copy?"

"Um, I think an electronic copy would be best."

"I'll e-mail you the file as soon as I return to my desk."

"Thank you again."

"You're welcome, young man."

Harry collected his Poliwag off of the examination table by returning him to his PokéBall and then made his way toward the Clinic's exit so he could rejoin the others before they all headed back to the Gym for Dudley's scheduled Gym Challenge. He would quickly notice the other three waiting for him beside the front door the moment he entered the lobby and Harry jogged across the room to join them.

"Where's your Poliwag? He's okay, isn't he?" Daisy asked the moment he reached their side.

"Yeah, he's doing fine; he's in his PokéBall right now. Are we going to grab breakfast before we leave?"

"We already ate while we were waiting for you. We also ordered something for you since I noticed you hadn't eaten when you fed your Pokémon before you left the room earlier," Dudley replied as he offered Harry a bag holding a single to-go box.

"Thanks, guys," Harry murmured as he readily accepted the bag of food and looped the handle over his arm; he could eat once they reached the Gym.

The quartet exited the Pokémon Center a heartbeat later. Unlike their first trip to the Pokémon Gym, they kept their pace to a fast walk and avoided taking any side trips in order to reach the Gym before nine o'clock. As soon as they stepped through the doors of the Gym roughly ten minutes before nine, the quartet was greeted by an older man in black slacks and a light red long sleeved shirt with black collar and cuffs with a standard PokéBall over his heart.

"Good morning, my name is Mark, I'm the Official Tournament Referee on duty today for the Pewter City Pokémon Gym; are the four of you here to register with the Gym or are you here to participate in a scheduled Challenge?" the older man, Mark, inquired as his gaze drifted over the four pre-teens.

"I'm Dudley Dursley and I'm scheduled to take the Gym's Challenge at nine," Dudley replied as he stepped forward.

"We're just here to watch Dudley," Daisy answered as she gestured between herself and Luna. "Our challenges were scheduled to take place in a couple of days."

"I still need to register but I'm also here to watch Dudley take the challenge," Harry added when the man's expectant gaze returned to him.

"Did you wish to register before or after your friend has made his first attempt at taking the Gym's Challenge?"

"After is fine."

"Very well, if the four of you would please step back outside; the first Gym Trainer Battle will be taking place out in the courtyard," Mark instructed as he opened the door so they could leave the building. As soon as they were outside, Mark drew a pair of short-handled flags, one red and one green, out of his pocket before he addressed Harry and the girls, "The three of you will need to move beyond the boulders for the duration of the battle."

"How come my first battle is taking place outside of the Gym?" Dudley inquired as he was directed towards the center of the courtyard by the referee while the rest of the pre-teens moved beyond the short wall of boulders that ringed the courtyard as requested.

"Your first opponent is one of the few Rock Type Trainers that are still apprenticed to Pewter's Gym and because the indoor battlefield has been converted into a large pool for Water Type Pokémon, it would place his Pokémon at a huge disadvantage to face his challengers inside."

"Ah, okay, I guess that makes sense then. Do Gyms often change focus like that? I mean it seems kind of weird for there to be two Gyms that specialize in Water Type Pokémon."

"No, it doesn't happen often; only when a new Gym Leader takes over the Gym and only if they focus on a different Type of Pokémon than their predecessor," Mark explained as he checked the time on his watch. "Usually, a changeover like that will only occur if a Gym Leader resigns, retires, or disappears without warning and without appointing a replacement Leader to take over after him."

"I see. Thanks for answering my questions."

"You're welcome."

The discussion ended at that point as the Gym door opened to disgorge a teen dressed in a beige uniform that consisted of canvas shorts, a button up shirt, and a cap. The way the older boy bounded up to join Dudley and Mark in the center of the courtyard was in direct contradiction to the scowl the teen was wearing on his face. Harry wasn't sure who or what had annoyed the boy but he knew it was them or Dudley since the scowl was replaced by a slightly forced smile the moment he reached the referee's side.

"Good morning! I'm Camper Class Trainer Jerry and you must be my first Challenger of the day, Dudley Dursley," the teen greeted in an over the top voice that sounded way too chipper for the teen's enthusiasm to be real. "I hope you're up for a real battle because I'm not going to go easy on you."

"I wouldn't want you to," Dudley countered as he pulled out his PokéDex in order to register the battle.

Harry snorted to himself; there were some things that never changed. And Dudley looking forward to a fight was one of them. Or maybe it was the challenge of the fight that his cousin anticipated; the thrill of pitting himself against another in order to see how he measured up. Since it was quite obvious that Dudley no longer sought to harm or humiliate those weaker than him like he had during his first childhood.

Shaking away the needless thought, Harry moved over to stand behind one of the taller boulders that ringed the courtyard so that he could use it as a table in order to eat his breakfast while he watched Dudley battle. He'd just pulled the to-go box out of the bag when he caught sight of Daisy moving further to the right so she was standing closer to entrance of the courtyard where she'd have a better view of both Pokémon during the battle in order to get the best pictures. A quick glance to his left let him know that Luna had made herself comfortable on the ground behind the boulders with Nargle on her head.

Harry had no doubt that Nargle would be mentally projecting the battle into Luna's mind so she could watch without relying on her _Sight_ to do so. He suspected that such activities also doubled as training for both Spork and Nargle since it had to take a considerable amount of control to project 'real time' feed through telepathy. He supposed that it was also another way for his adopted sister to bond with both of her Psychic Pokémon. Harry briefly wondered if telepathy felt anything like Legilimency or Occlumency before he decided he didn't want to know.

He was also secretly glad that neither Spork nor Nargle had ever spoken to him through telepathy. It wasn't that he was afraid or even mildly concerned they would hurt him or anything like that; he just wasn't certain that he felt comfortable with the idea of anyone peeking into his mind. Part of that was due to his unpleasant memories of Snape's lessons and the rest was because he had far too many secrets that needed to be protected. It was at that point that it occurred to Harry that Luna might have warned her Pokémon not to mess with his mind.

Either because she knew such an intrusion would remind him of Snape or because she'd _seen_ that it was best for her Pokémon not to interact with him through telepathy.

It was also possible that the two Psychic Pokémon had sensed that he would not feel comfortable with that form of communication long before he'd given any thought to the matter. Of course, it was also equally possible that the two Pokémon just enjoyed the physical act of speaking to him because it didn't require them to use their abilities to make themselves understood. Well, it didn't really matter to Harry how or why they refrained from contacting him mentally; he just hoped they both knew he appreciated the fact they allowed him to retain the privacy of his own mind.

Harry put the entire matter out of his mind a moment later and focused on the courtyard as he dug his fork into his breakfast. He'd only just begun lifting his loaded fork up to his mouth when he felt his belt shake before he suddenly found a Poliwag sitting on his waffles. Bemused, Harry stuffed his fork in his mouth to free up his hand before he lifted his newest Pokémon off of his breakfast so he could clean the Bluk Berry Syrup from his tail and feet. He then gave the Water Pokémon a quick cuddle before returning him to his PokéBall so the dirt kicked up by the battle in the courtyard would not get in his still healing eye.

He'd barely reattached the PokéBall to his belt when Mark officially started Dudley's first Gym Trainer Batter as he announced, "The official Gym Challenge Match between Gym Trainer Jerry, Camper Class versus Challenger Dudley Dursley, Trainer shall now begin! This battle will consist of a two-on-two Pokémon Battle with only the Challenger being allowed to use substitutions and shall end when one of the participants is out of usable Pokémon or in the event that one of the participants forfeits the match. Ready…? Set! BATTLE!"

Harry just about jumped out of his skin when a set of hidden speakers began blaring dramatic music at that precise moment; he had not expected that. He snorted over his own silliness (since it wasn't like the music could have _scared_ him) and took the fork out of his mouth as he watched Dudley and Jerry call out their first Pokémon.

"Let's go, Chip!" Dudley crowed as he released his Mankey from his Pokémon at the same time as Jerry released a Pokémon that looked sort of like a cross between a mouse and an armadillo and cried, "I choose you, Sandshrew!"

Harry easily recognized the yellow Pokémon as one that he'd worked with at Professor Oak's Lab, though he was admittedly far more familiar with its evolutionary form of Sandslash. The match up against his cousin's Mankey and Jerry's Sandshrew wasn't the best but it wasn't exactly the worst either and he looked forward to what promised to be a good battle. Eager to see who was going to make the first move, Harry leaned forward and absently stabbed another bite of waffle; the green eyed ten year old already forgetting that his Pokémon had sat in it – not that it would have mattered to him if he had.

Poliwag had been clean when Harry had put him in his PokéBall.

With the dramatic music blasting out over the courtyard turned battlefield, Dudley confidently commanded, "Chip, use **Leer**!"

To Harry's surprise, the stubborn Pig Monkey Pokémon actually listened to Dudley and his eyes gleamed brightly as he sent a leering glare at the Sandshrew. Harry was far too used to the feisty Fighting Pokémon disobeying Dudley. Then again, Chip loved to pick fights regardless of whether they were verbal or physical fights. And that meant battling was right up his alley. So, maybe it wasn't really all that surprising that Chip would obey Dudley during a Battle but ignore him outside of one.

"Sandshrew, dodge and use **Rollout**!" Jerry countered as he dramatically threw his left hand out to the side and took a half step forward. The Sandshrew was quick and nimble on his feet as he shifted to the side before throwing himself forward as his body curled up into a ball that launched itself directly at Chip.

"Jump over him and use **Leer** again!"

"_What a useless lump of wet sand!_" Chip crowed as he effortlessly leapt over the spinning Ground Pokémon and sent another leering glare at his opponent as the Sandshrew passed through the space the Mankey had occupied just seconds earlier.

The **Leer** struck the rolling Pokémon and knocked him out of his ball. The Sandshrew was sent sprawling onto the hard packed dirt of the courtyard before he caught himself with his claws and scrambled up onto his feet. He quickly fell back into a ready stance and patiently waited for his Trainer to direct his next move even as he watched Chip lightly land back on the ground.

"Nice recovery, Sandshrew; now use **Sand Attack** followed by **Rollout**!"

"Close your eyes and jump out of the attack before you use **Fury Swipes**!" Dudley ordered directly on the heels of Jerry's command.

The Ground Pokémon immediately complied by spinning on his heel and rapidly scratching at the ground in order to kick up a flurry of sand that was sent shooting straight towards Chip. Chip easily threw himself above the flying sand to escape the Status Attack. He then dropped down directly on top of the Sandshrew before the Mouse Pokémon could finish his first move and unleashed a barrage of rapid scratch attacks that left a series of stinging red lines all over the other Pokémon's body.

"Sandshrew! Use **Defense Curl** to protect yourself!" Jerry ordered in response to hearing his Pokémon let out a cry of pain.

Harry bounced eagerly on his toes to see what his cousin would have Chip do next only to suddenly find his view once again blocked by his Poliwag. At least this time, his Pokémon hadn't ended up on his half-eaten breakfast and Harry quickly snagged the Water Pokémon off of the boulder before returning him to his PokéBall as some of the sand kicked up by the Sandshrew's recent attack drifted in their direction.

"Let him curl up and then use **Low Kick** to send him flying, Chip!" Dudley instructed at that precise moment and Harry let loose a brief cheer when the Mankey punted his opponent into the air. "Now jump up and hit him with **Fury Swipes** again!"

"Sandshrew, use **Rollout** to block the attack!"

Harry was impressed with Camper Jerry's quick thinking as he watched the now rapidly spinning Ground Pokémon easily deflect Mankey's claws as they both dropped back towards the ground. Of course, the failure to land a hit only served to anger the Fighting Pokémon and Chip gave out a loud battle cry as he immediately punted the Sandshrew across the courtyard with another **Low Kick** without waiting for Dudley to direct him. The Ground Pokémon hit the ring of boulders lining the courtyard hard enough to instantly knock it out.

"Sandshrew is unable to continue! First round goes to Challenger Dudley!" Mark announced as he raised the red flag in his right hand and partially pointed it towards Dudley.

"Good try, Sandshrew," Jerry stated as he returned his Pokémon to its PokéBall. He then swapped out the PokéBall in his hand with another one from his belt and released the Pokémon inside of it as he called out, "Come on out, Rhyhorn; it's time to shake this battle up!"

Dudley seemed to hesitate for a moment, his hand hovering over the PokéBalls at his belt (the blond obviously trying to decide whether or not to let Chip continue fighting or swap him out with Rex) before he dropped his hand back to the side and called, "Chip, let's see if we can't rattle a few rocks loose from this guy."

Harry snorted in amusement and shook his head over the battle taunts that had just been exchanged. He was then forced to smother his laughter when Chip began slinging insults at the Rhyhorn even as the two Trainers handed out their first orders. The actual battle between Chip and the Rhyhorn went fairly quickly with Dudley's Mankey landing a few hits that didn't really do much while Rhyhorn managed to do a bit of damage to the Fighting Pokémon. Dudley ended up calling Chip back before he could be knocked out since he still had at least two more Trainers to face.

Rex came out dancing as usual and made short work of the Spikes Pokémon using a combination of **Dig**, **Water Gun**, and **Bite** and as soon as Rhyhorn fainted, the music that had been playing in the background cut out and Referee Mark declared, "Rhyhorn is unable to continue! Camper Jerry is out of usable Pokémon; the winner of this Gym Trainer Battle is the Challenger; Dudley Dursley!"

"Good work, Rex! You did it!" Dudley crowed as he hurried forward to celebrate with his tap dancing Totodile.

"Rhyhorn, return," Jerry murmured as he returned the unconscious Pokémon to its PokéBall. "Good try, buddy." The defeated Gym Trainer then walked to the center of the field in order to shake Dudley's hand once Dudley had set Rex back down on the ground, "Congratulations, Dudley; that was a great battle even though I lost."

"Thanks, Jerry; I had a lot of fun."

"You know, I was really surprised when your Mankey lasted as long as he did against my Rhyhorn."

"Yeah, Chip loves to fight; he's a real scrapper. I suspect he'd even fight his reflection if I put him in front of a mirror."

Jerry laughed in response to that admission before he clapped Dudley on the shoulder and headed off towards the Pokémon Center to get his Pokémon healed. Seeing that the battle was officially over, Harry packed up his trash and climbed over the rock boundary before he turned to help Luna over the wall next. He then headed towards Dudley so he could congratulate his cousin on a good battle. Luna would end up reaching her fellow blond first when Harry's Poliwag burst out of his PokéBall yet again and he had to snatch the Water Pokémon out of the air so he didn't get hurt.

Harry gave the Pokémon in his hands a fond smile filled with just a touch of exasperation as the little Poliwag's behavior sharply reminded the green-eyed boy of Trevor, Neville's old pet toad. That little escape artist of an amphibian had given his fellow Gryffindor and friend so much grief during their first few years at Hogwarts with his constant vanishing acts before Neville had wisened up and left his pet at home during his final four years at the castle. The reminder of his old friend made Harry wonder what Neville would have thought of the Pokémon if he'd survived the Weasley's attack.

Pushing aside the hollow pang he felt over Neville's death, Harry tucked his Poliwag into the crook of his left arm and began walking once more as he focused on the similarities between his Poliwag and Neville's former pet. After a few minutes, He decided that he would honor his fallen friend's memory by naming his Poliwag after Neville's toad so that every time he addressed his new Pokémon, he'd remember his bravest friend who had not hesitated to sacrifice himself to save Luna's life.

Once he'd reached that decision, Harry focused his attention on the group in the middle of the courtyard (to prevent himself from slipping into PokéTongue, as he carefully stated, "Now that no one's kicking up any dirt, you can stay out, if you'd like, Trevor."

"_Who's Trevor?_" the newly named Poliwag inquired in confusion as he wrapped his tail securely around Harry's arm.

"You are; if you'll accept the name," Harry murmured in a low tone that wouldn't carry.

The Water Pokémon chirred with pleasure and snuggled into Harry's chest the moment he understood that Harry had just given him a nickname; something that his former Trainer hadn't bothered to do. Harry took his Poliwag's reaction as acceptance of his new name and made a mental note to update his PokéDex later. He then turned his attention back to his cousin as he joined the others.

"Hey, Big D; good job! Are you ready for the next battle now?"

"Mostly, I need to heal Chip first," Dudley replied as he rolled his eyes in response to the nickname that Harry had just called him. He then turned to face the referee as he asked, "I will be allowed to heal my Pokémon in between matches, right?"

"Yes, you are also allowed to use healing aides during a Gym Battle; though few Trainers bother since most Gym Battles are so fast paced that trying to stop and use an item actually runs the risk of costing the Trainer the battle," Mark replied as he glanced down at his watch. "You've got ten minutes to prepare for the next battle in your Challenge; if you and your Pokémon aren't ready to battle at the end of those ten minutes, then your current Challenge shall be considered forfeit."

"Will my next battle take place out here or in the Gym?"

"In the Gym; you'll be facing a Water Pokémon Trainer next."

"Okay, thanks."

Dudley moved off to heal both of his Pokémon (though Chip obviously needed it more than Rex) and Harry used the opportunity the short break between battles provided to address the referee as he asked, "Will there be enough time for me to register for my Gym Challenge while Dudley's getting ready for his next battle or would it be easier for me to wait until he faces the Gym Leader?"

"It usually only takes about five minutes to register a challenge; you do have the Pokémon you intend to your during your Gym Challenge on you, correct?"

"Yeah, I've got both of them."

"Then if you follow me, we can get you registered right now," Mark replied as he tucked his battle flags into his pocket and gestured for Harry to follow him towards the entrance to the Gym. As soon as he stepped inside of the Gym, the referee directed Harry to the registration desk where woman wearing a uniform similar to Mark's (only her shirt was light blue instead of red) was seated before he excused himself to prepare for the next battle.

As soon as Harry stepped up to the desk, the woman looked up and smiled at him as she asked, "Hello, my name is Becky and I'm the Official Tournament Registrar assigned to the Pewter Gym. How may I help you today?"

"I'm here to sign up for a Gym Challenge," Harry answered as he couldn't help but return the friendly woman's smile with one of his own.

The process of registering for a Gym Challenge was quick and painless. Harry simply plugged his PokéDex into the Gym's computer using the cable provided and followed the prompts that were given. When he got to the point where he needed to choose which Pokémon he'd be using in the Gym Battles, he dithered for a brief moment before he registered both Phoenix and Trevor. He knew that 'Nix would be at a huge disadvantage going up against Water Pokémon (since there was no guarantee that Harry would face Camper Jerry) but he also didn't think Trevor would handle the pressure to fight alone all that well either.

And the last thing he wanted was for his newest Pokémon to feel pressured this early in their partnership since it could have drastic consequences due to how fragile Trevor's psyche was at the moment.

Harry would just have to make certain that he trained Phoenix alongside Trevor. The fact that there were now two Water Type Pokémon in their party (Rex and Trevor) meant there'd be plenty of training opportunities for both of his Pokémon. There were also more than enough wild Rock and Ground Pokémon to be found locally that he could work out potential strategies if he did end up facing Camper Jerry or another Rock Type Pokémon Trainer. Training his two Pokémon together would also help strengthen the newly formed bond of friendship between the two Pokémon.

As soon as Harry had completed his registration, Becky reviewed his file to make certain the registration had been properly filled out before she stated, "Everything looks good; all we need to do is fit your Challenge into the schedule."

"April twenty-fifth, at two in the afternoon," Luna blithely interjected before Becky could provide Harry with the first available opening.

"Er, we do have earlier openings available," Becky hesitantly pointed out once she'd gotten over her surprise at the late date that Luna had seemingly drawn out of thin air.

"Actually, Nurse Joy might want me to wait even longer in order to give Trevor, my Poliwag, time to fully recover from his recent injury; so the twenty-fifth will be fine," Harry hurriedly pointed out in order to draw the woman's attention off of Luna; her Gift of Sight just as risky to reveal publicly as Harry's Gift of PokéTongue. "Er, I won't be penalized if I do have to reschedule my Challenge, will I?"

"So long as you notify us at least twenty-four hours in advance so that we can offer your time slot to another Challenger, then no, there will be no penalty. There would also be no penalty if you miss your scheduled Challenge due to a life threatening emergency. Just keep in mind that an excessive number of missed appointments or last minute reschedules at any one Gym will see you being temporarily banned from taking that Gym's Challenge."

"Okay, thanks for the information."

"You're welcome," Becky offered in return. "So, did you still wish to schedule your Challenge for the twenty-fifth?"

"Yeah, I'll need the extra time to get ready."

"Very well, your scheduled Gym Challenge will take place at two in the afternoon on April twenty-fifth of this year. Due to the number of days between now and your scheduled Challenge, please note that you are required to provide the Gym with an update for the Battle Stats of the Pokémon that you've registered as partners for your Gym Challenge twenty-four hours prior to your Challenge; failure to do so will result in an automatic forfeit on your part."

"Got it."

"Was there anything else I can do for you?" Becky asked as she glanced away from the computer screen to meet Harry's gaze and he promptly shook his head no. The woman nodded in response to his silent reply before she promptly ended the link between the Gym's computer and Harry's PokéDex from her end and stated, "Good luck with your training."

"Thanks, ma'am."

Less than three minutes later, Harry, Daisy, and Luna found themselves situated in the balcony that overlooked the main floor of the Gym where Dudley's next battle would be taking place. The Gym's recessed battle arena had actually been turned into an overlarge pool filled with scattered boulders that stuck up out of the water. There were three platforms attached to the pool; one on either end for Trainers to use during a battle and an elevated one centered lengthwise over the pool directly below the balcony on the left-hand side of the room where the referee could safely preside over a battle.

Standing on the platform furthest from the Gym's entrance, was a brown-haired teen with her hair trussed up in a messy ponytail that was holding a pair of standard PokéBalls in her hands. The thing that struck Harry the most about the girl was the fact that she was wearing a moderately skimpy dark blue bikini. Swimming in the water directly in front of the platform the teen was standing on was an orange and white Pokémon that looked rather similar to a goldfish with a small horn in the center of its head.

Harry easily recognized the Pokémon as a Goldeen, the Goldfish Pokémon; one of the more common Water Pokémon found throughout pretty much every region. And another one of the Pokémon that Harry had worked with at Professor Oak's Lab. He was pretty certain that the Goldeen in the water belonged to the teen on the battling platform due to the fact that the Goldfish Pokémon often popped up to speak to the girl; though Harry was too far away to hear what the Pokémon was saying to its Trainer.

Pulling his eyes away from the girl on the platform (lest he get caught staring), Harry glanced around him. Spread out along the balcony alongside the three companions were a number of Gym Trainers that were apprenticed to the Pewter Gym, several Pokémon Enthusiasts that apparently enjoyed watching other people battle, a handful of fellow Trainers either waiting for their turn to take the Gym Challenge or there to get a feel for the Gym's Leader before they decide to take the Challenge, a couple of Tournament Officials, and one slightly annoyed ten year old.

Harry thought it was weird that none of them had gone outside to watch Dudley's first battle until he noticed several wide screen monitors strategically bolted to the walls on the upper levels; each monitor currently replaying various highlights from Dudley's earlier battle. The fact that random shots of Dudley's battle against Camper Jerry were being replayed on the monitors indicated that there was at least two external cameras fixed on the courtyard. That knowledge made Harry frown as it occurred to him that the cameras could have caught Tyson's cruelty on film.

Of course, Officer Jenny had probably already considered that possibility and made inquiries at the Gym. He could always as Becky about it or check in at the Police Station later just to make sure though. He then briefly wondered if he should be worried about his conversation with Trevor the previous day also being caught on camera. He immediately dismissed the thought when he noticed that the replays being shown were without sound; a potential indication that the outside cameras were incapable of recording sound.

His attention would then be drawn back to the Gym floor as Mark announced the start of Dudley's next battle, "The official Gym Challenge Match between Gym Trainer Briana, Swimmer Class versus Challenger Dudley Dursley, Trainer shall now begin! This battle will consist of a two-on-two Pokémon Battle with only the Challenger being allowed to use substitutions and shall end when one of the participants is out of usable Pokémon or in the event that one of the participants forfeits the match. Ready…? Set! BATTLE!"

The same dramatic music that had played during Dudley's battle outside immediately began playing once again the moment the referee had uttered the word 'battle'. Harry twitched in response to the unexpectedness of the sound even as he heard a soft whimper from Trevor and felt the Poliwag bury his face against his shoulder. Once he'd comforted the Water Pokémon (the music had obviously brought back bad memories of the last time the little guy had been in the Gym), he tapped Daisy on the shoulder to get her attention.

The moment Daisy turned to look at him, Harry asked, "Is it normal for them to play music during a battle?"

"Yeah, each Pokémon Gym has a different theme song that plays during Challenge Battles; the music is supposed to discourage the audience from helping the Challenger since the Gym Challenges are meant to assess a Trainer's prowess during their matches. They also play Battle Music during Tournament Battles. Some of the Battle Fanatics actually buy Battle Theme Soundtracks to play during regular Trainer Battles or when they're training their Pokémon."

"Weird," Harry commented before his attention was drawn back down to the battle taking place on the main floor when Mark announced the defeat of Briana's Goldeen by Chip.

Swimmer Briana then sent out a second Goldeen instead of a different type of Pokémon and Harry made certain to pay attention this time so as not to miss the battle. Much like Chip's battle against Briana's first Goldeen, the second battle ended fairly quickly due to Chip being overly aggressive and irritable in the wake of his earlier 'loss' against Camper Jerry's Rhyhorn. Harry suspected that the Mankey would give Dudley and Rex an extra hard time in the near future as a result of Dudley using Rex to basically 'bail' Chip out of that particular battle.

"Goldeen is unable to continue! Swimmer Briana is out of usable Pokémon; the winner of this Gym Trainer Battle is the Challenger; Dudley Dursley!" Referee Mark declared as soon as the music had cut out after the Water Pokémon had been knocked unconscious; his announcement drawing cheers from most of those watching.

Dudley was given another ten minutes to check over his Pokémon at that point. While Dudley was busy checking Chip's health and giving him a few PokéBerries to wash away his battle fatigue, Harry shifted his attention back to the video screens on the walls where they were now playing highlights from Dudley's most recent battle. His attention would be drawn to the annoyed ten year old he'd taken note of earlier as he heard the boy mutter a few complaints.

"I can't believe they called that a Gym Battle. Briana didn't even try to win. Dad never would have let a Gym Trainer under him fight in a battle like that. Dad never would have ruined the Gym by turning it into a stupid pond either."

"I take it your father was the former Gym Leader of this Gym?" Harry inquired as he carefully loosened Trevor's tail a bit to prevent his arm from going to sleep from a lack of blood flow.

"Yeah, he was," the boy agreed as he turned to look at Harry. He then stuck his hand out and announced, "I'm Brock."

"I'm Harry, my friends are Daisy and Luna, and that's my cousin Dudley down there on the main floor," Harry replied as he shook the other boy's hand.

The moment Brock's gaze shifted to take in the two girls, he dropped Harry's hand as if it burned him and moved over to the girls so fast that Harry would have thought he'd apparated to them if he hadn't known that this world's magic didn't work like that. Bemused, Harry twisted around to watch the other boy's antics as he introduced himself to the girls a split second before he started hitting on them.

"Hello lovelies, I'm Brock; I've been told there's no such thing as love at first sight but the ones who said that obviously never met such a gorgeous duo as you. I know I'm in love. What do you say the three of us hit the clubs tonight? Shall we call it a date?"

Luna giggled while Daisy sort of gaped at the boy; both of their cheeks stained red with awkwardness over the obvious flirting. Harry snorted under his breath and shook his head in pure amusement over the fact that Brock fancied himself something of a casanova. The little drama would be cut short before either girl could turn the boy down when everyone's attention was drawn back to the Gym's main floor by Mark announcing the next battle.

"The official Gym Challenge Match between Gym Leader Lola versus Challenger Dudley Dursley shall now begin! This battle will consist of a three-on-two Pokémon Battle with only the Challenger being –"

Halfway through Mark's announcement, Harry's eyes were drawn to the platform that the last Gym Trainer had used in order to get his first look at a Gym Leader. The moment his eyes landed on the woman standing on the platform, the first thought that went running through his mind was that she looked more like a housewife than she did a Gym Leader. She was wearing a knee length white skirt, a pink and red tank top, and blue sandals. Her hair was curled in such a way that it flared out in the back; a hairdo that obviously took time to set. And she wore a smile that reminded Harry of Delia.

"– allowed to use substitutions and shall end when one of the participants is out of usable Pokémon or in the event that one of the participants forfeits the match. Ready…? Set! BATTLE!"

The housewife vibe Harry had gotten from Lola shattered the moment the battle started. The moment the battle started, the woman became like a demon possessed as she faced off against Dudley. Now, he'd seen some of the Trainers that he and the others had faced go all out during their battles but they had been unenthusiastic when compared to Lola. It was also rather obvious that she wasn't going easy on Dudley just because he was a kid and judging by the fierce grin on his cousin's face, that was obviously something that Dudley appreciated.

It certainly made for an exciting battle when compared to the one Dudley had had against Swimmer Briana.

* * *

**Notes:**

Gym Trainers – Camper Jerry is a canon character from the Pewter City Gym in the Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heart Gold, and Heart Silver games (though he usually has the evolved forms of the Pokémon he used in this chapter); Swimmer Briana is actually a canon character from the Cerulean Gym in the Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal games that I borrowed to throw in the Pewter Gym since there technically aren't any other Water Pokémon Trainers known to work at the Pewter Gym aside from Lola – consider her presence in Pewter her first experience as a Gym Trainer before she transfers over to Cerulean Gym  
Referee Mark – the referee is obviously an OC created strictly for this story and his name was randomly selected. The reason he did not immediately recognize Dudley or the girls (even though they'd only registered the previous day) is because he has seen so many Trainers that their faces have blurred together. He's also not the one who registers the Trainers.  
Registrar Becky – another obvious OC created strictly for this story w/ her name being randomly selected. Her job is strictly to register Gym Challenges and keep track of a Trainer's records in regards to the Pewter Gym (i.e. she's the one that bans those Trainers that loose too many Challenges or that consistently fail to show up for their scheduled battles).  
Lola – is Brock's mother and she has, in the anime, taken over the Gym on at least one occasion and converted it into a Water Type Gym (much to her husband's and children's horror). I chose to have her replace Flint after he left in this story since Brock is only ten years old at this point in the story and therefore not really experienced enough to take over the Gym. No, Brock won't join Harry and the others on their Journey.

* * *

**Pokémon Parties** (M = Male, F = Female, G = Genderless)

Daisy: (Trainer ID # 062441DO)

Charm – F Charmander (lvl 18)  
Sparky – M Pikachu (lvl 7)

Dudley: (Trainer ID # 062444DD)

Keys – G Klefki (lvl 33)  
Rex – M Totodile (lvl 21)  
Chip – M Mankey (lvl 18)

Luna: (Trainer ID # 062443LL)

Nargle – F Natu (lvl 50)  
Spork – M Spoink (lvl 32)  
Snuggles – M Chikorita (lvl 19)

Harry: (Researcher ID# 0018708HP, Trainer ID # 062442HP)

Moony – M Absol (lvl 51)  
Gryffin – M Litleo (lvl 34)  
Trouble – F Misdreavus (lvl 50)  
Phoenix (Nix) – M Cyndaquil (lvl 20)  
Trevor – M Poliwag (lvl 24)

* * *

**AN:** _This chapter was a huge pain to get done. I'd originally planned to write out far more of the Gym Battles but just writing out the one I did was like trying to pull teeth from a slug. It was also this chapter that was holding up this arc until I decided to split the arc in half.  
_

_Anyway, I can already hear some of the die-hard Pokemon Canon fans complaining that I said walk-in battles weren't allowed for the Gyms when that's the way they happen in both the games and the anime but I did say that this story would be AU. My reasoning for making Trainers make appointments was because it made more sense to me. Sure, for those Gyms that don't get a lot of Trainer Traffic, the walk-in battles would be fine but for the more popular Gyms, they'd be constantly battling and would never get anything else isn't even taking into account the time it would take for the Gym Trainers/Leaders to heal their Pokemon in between battles. So yeah, I made up new rules for Gym Challenges because they're important battles for the Tournament. _

_Aside from the headache this chapter caused me while I was writing it, I had fun writing Trevor's constant 'escaping' from his PokeBall and was something I'd planned from the very beginning. Although, I'd originally planned for that scene to be a little more drawn out and have other people notice it before I actually had Harry name his Poliwag but this chapter didn't cooperate with my original outline. I also wasn't going to include Brock in this chapter but he wormed his way in just so he could ask Luna and Daisy out. Well, that, and he wanted to complain about the water. _

_Anywho, I think that covers everything. There's only going to be one more chapter in this half of the arc and while I originally planned to post it tomorrow, I've been sick most of the week (darn kids dragging home more germs again) and didn't get it edited and prepped for posting. I also feel too crappy to do that right now. So, the next chapter will be late. I hope to have it up before Wednesday but I make no promises because it will depend on how I feel and if I can kick this flu thing to the curb sooner rather than later because it's stubbornly clung to me since Tuesday. Urgh, I hate being sick. _

_On that note, I'm outta here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, will thank everyone now for all the reads/reviews/alerts and for those of you who PM'd me within the last week or two, I'll be answering those once I'm feeling better. So, about the same time as when I post the next chapter. Sorry about the delay. ~ Jenn_


End file.
